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. 2014 Oct;8(4):493-497.
doi: 10.4103/1305-7456.143631.

Effectiveness of teaching International Caries Detection and Assessment System II and its e-learning program to freshman dental students on occlusal caries detection

Hatem M El-Damanhoury  1   2 , Kausar Sadia Fakhruddin  1 , Manal A Awad  1
Affiliations

Effectiveness of teaching International Caries Detection and Assessment System II and its e-learning program to freshman dental students on occlusal caries detection

Hatem M El-Damanhoury et al. Eur J Dent. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the feasibility of teaching International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) II and its e-learning program as tools for occlusal caries detection to freshmen dental students in comparison to dental graduates with 2 years of experience.

Materials and methods: Eighty-four freshmen and 32 dental graduates examined occlusal surfaces of molars/premolars (n = 72) after a lecture and a hands-on workshop. The same procedure was repeated after 1 month following the training with ICDAS II e-learning program. Validation of ICDAS II codes was done histologically. Intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility of ICDAS II severity scores were assessed before and after e-learning using (Fleiss's kappa).

Results: The kappa values showed inter-examiner reproducibility ranged from 0.53 (ICDAS II code cut off ≥ 1) to 0.70 (ICDAS II code cut off ≥ 3) by undergraduates and 0.69 (ICDAS II code cut off ≥ 1) to 0.95 (ICDAS II code cut off ≥ 3) by graduates. The inter-examiner reproducibility ranged from 0.64 (ICDAS II code cut off ≥ 1) to 0.89 (ICDAS II code cut off ≥ 3). No statistically significant difference was found between both groups in intra-examiner agreements for assessing ICDAS II codes. A high statistically significant difference (P ≤ 0.01) in correct identification of codes 1, 2, and 4 from before to after e-learning were observed in both groups. The bias indices for the undergraduate group were higher than those of the graduate group.

Conclusions: Early exposure of students to ICDAS II is a valuable method of teaching caries detection and its e-learning program significantly improves their caries diagnostic skills.

Keywords: Dental caries; International Caries Detection and Assessment System II; e-learning; teaching methods.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency distribution (%) of correct responses of caries detection according to International Caries Detection and Assessment System codes before and after e-learning by group of undergraduates (freshmen)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency distribution (%) of correct responses of caries detection according to International Caries Detection and Assessment System codes before and after e-learning by group of graduates
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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