DIAGNOSTIC CONFIDENCE AND THE ACCURACY OF TREATMENT DECISIONS FOR RADIOPAQUE PERIAPICAL LESIONS

The periapical radiograph is a tool used in the diagnosis of periapica l bone pathology. Radiographic diagnosis might therefore influence end odontic treatment planning and the quality and the cost of dental heal th care. The hypotheses were tested that (1) the subjective prevalence of a lesion would be associated with the accuracy with which it is di agnosed, (2) 'confident dentists' would be as accurate in their diagno sis as 'doubtful dentists' and (3) the diagnostic confidence of dentis ts for the diagnosis of periapical pathology would not influence their treatment planning. It was found that the probability of an appropria te treatment decision increased when dentists were relatively confiden t about a diagnosis. The results showed, furthermore, that the accurac y of diagnostic decisions increased when the dentist's confidence abou t a particular decision was high. Ways to increase diagnostic accuracy of radiopaque periapical pathology are proposed as a result of this s tudy.