Frequency of caries in triangular-shaped radiolucencies on periapical radiographs of maxillary deciduous second molars.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Tabari, Mitra Yazdizadeh, Mina Abesi, Farida Khafri, Soraya Dozin, Javad Vaziri
Copyright Year	2021
Abstract	Background:Dentists might face various artifacts (such as triangular-shaped radiolucencies [TSRs]) during the assessment of radiographs and should be able to differentiate them from caries to avoid unnecessary treatments.Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 109 maxillary second primary molars were evaluated in cooperative children aged 4–9 years, who had distal caries in their maxillary first primary molars. First, TSRs were recorded on periapical radiographs of each maxillary second primary molar's proximal surface. Then, after excavating distal caries in the adjacent teeth “D,” a pedodontist examined the mesial surfaces of teeth “E.” Chi-square test was used to compare the distribution of caries in different variables, and the kappa coefficient was applied to evaluate clinical and radiographic agreements. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:Forty-four cases were found to be carious both clinically and radiographically, and 54 cases were noncarious by both methods, while for 11 cases, the diagnosis was controversial. No statistically significant difference was found between radiographic and clinical caries detection methods in children whose periapical radiographs contained TSRs, and most of the subjects had similar diagnoses. Value of caries detection sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value in TSRs was 88%, 92%, 90%, and 90%, respectively.Conclusion:Considering high radiographic sensitivity for caries detection in TSRs, clinicians should be more cautious about them being carious or not, and both radiographic and clinical examinations are necessary. Further, to avoid misinterpretation in radiographs, additional education is necessary for young dentists.
ISSN	17353327
Journal	Dental Research Journal
Volume Number	18
PubMed Central reference number	PMC8804553
PubMed reference number	35265287
e-ISSN	20080255
Language	English
Publisher	Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
Publisher Date	2021-12-10
Publisher Place	India
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Copyright: © 2021 Dental Research Journal
Subject Keyword	Artifact deciduous tooth dental decay dental radiography
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Dentistry