The Impact of Magnification on Occlusal Caries Diagnosis with Implementation of the ICDAS II Criteria

Aim: This study compared the impact of low-powered magnification on the detection of occlusal caries. Methods: The occlusal surfaces of 38 extracted teeth received caries ICDAS classification with and without magnification by two examiners. Histology was used as the gold standard. Results: No significant differences existed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, LR+, LR- and Az values for the two examiners and modalities. Interexaminer agreement was almost perfect for grades 0, 2, 3 irrespective of magnification. For grade 1, magnification resulted in lower agreement than unaided vision. Conclusion: Magnification does not improve the detective performance of visual examination. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel