Hp. Lawrence et al., DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENT OF APPROXIMAL CARIES PROGRESSION IN FLUORIDATED AND NONFLUORIDATED AREAS OF RIO-DE-JANEIRO, BRAZIL, Community dentistry and oral epidemiology, 25(6), 1997, pp. 412-418
Citations number
37
Categorie Soggetti
Dentistry,Oral Surgery & Medicine","Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath
The effect of fluoridation on approximal caries progression was invest
igated using serial digitized bitewing images and conventional film im
ages of 290 12-16-year-old schoolchildren who were lifetime residents
of either Rio de Janeiro (a fluoridated area) or Mangaratiba and Angra
dos Reis (non-fluoridated areas) in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Braz
il. One examiner scored a maximum of 28 approximal surfaces of posteri
or teeth per subject using both methods. The intraexaminer reliability
for rating lesion depth with digital images was comparable with that
of the conventional bitewing films (namely, intraclass correlation of
0.99 and weighted Kappa scores of 0.82, respectively). Approximal surf
ace D1S was 3.17+/-0.25 (s(x)) in fluoridated areas and 6.64+/-0.44 in
non-fluoridated areas. After 1 year, the rate of caries progression i
n approximal surfaces was significantly lower in the fluoridated areas
(0.54+/-0.14) as compared with the non-fluoridated areas (1.41+/-0.20
) using Pitts' scoring system for conventional bitewing radiographs (P
<0.001). Similarly, the digital radiographic method was able to detect
subtle differences in approximal caries progression in the enamel and
the dentin (overall mean: 0.34 mm/year in fluoridated areas vs 0.49 m
m/year in nonfluoridated areas, P<0.05). The two radiographic methods
were strongly correlated (r(s)=0.7). Assuming a constant rate over tim
e, these results indicate that lesion progression from the outer half
of the enamel into the outer half of the dentin takes approximately 3-
4 years in schoolchildren from the fluoridated areas compared to 2 1/2
years in the non-fluoridated areas.