Lecture 7- Caries Diagnosis Flashcards
(T/F) Caries is always definitively absent or present
false, on a continuum from incipient to advanced
What is the old method for detecting caries? Why should we avoid this method?
- Exploration via explorer sticking in tooth feeling for soft areas
- This can cause irreversible traumatic defects that prevent repair of lesion on own
What is the current recommended method to detect caries?
visual inspection with appropriate radiographs
(T/F) Although fissure caries are more common, they are harder to diagnose than smooth caries
true
What is reliability?
likelihood of getting same analysis of patient repeatedly
What is validity?
likelihood that diagnosis is accurate
What is sensitivity?
proportion of people with caries who have positive test result (saying its positive when you have disease)
What is specificity?
proportion of health people who have negative test result (saying its negative when you don’t have disease)
A low sensitivity would be under/overtreatment
A low specificity would be under/overtreatment
low sensitivity = under treatment
low specificity = over treatment
Diagnosis of fissure caries is typically … sensitivity and .. specificity
low sensitivity
high specificity
(T/F) We should avoid sealing incipient lesions because they will likely spread beneath sealant
False, it has been widely used with good result to seal incipient caries to stop progression
New methods for diagnosing caries will likely increase sensitivity but decrease specificity. What are the drawbacks?
- likely over-diagnose and over treat people
- time consuming methods
- expensive equipment
(T/F) Although radiographs often do not detect incipient fissure caries, this is okay because early detection may not change treatment or outcome
True. early detection may have just lead to over treatment
