RESTORATIVE CERTAINTY AND VARYING PERCEPTIONS OF DENTAL-CARIES DEPTH AMONG DENTISTS

Objective: The question of whether dentists who most frequently identi fy tooth surfaces for definite restoration perceive dental caries as s ignificantly deeper than other dentists is assessed. Methods: One grou p of 20 dentists independently examined 145 unrestored approximal toot h surfaces on 16 bitewing radiographs and recorded their restorative a nd depth decisions. Another group of 15 dentists similarly scored 304 unrestored surfaces on 30 bitewing radiographs. Each group of dentists was later divided into four subgroups according to the number of surf aces designated for definite restoration by each dentist. Results: As the number of tooth surfaces designated for definite restoration incre ased, mean caries depth (P<.05 for the high vs low subgroups) and the percent of dentinally carious surfaces increased, while the percent of surfaces assessed as sound decreased. Dentists with the lower numbers of surfaces designated for definite restoration came closest to the t rue histologic mean caries depth of the examined tooth surfaces. Concl usions: Dentists who designated high numbers of approximal tooth surfa ces for definite restoration assessed caries as deeper than other dent ists, and deeper than was proven histologically.