Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38769611›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of paediatric dentistry2025

Evaluation of near-infrared digital imaging transillumination compared with bitewing radiography for proximal caries detection in children.

Jilen Patel, Akhil Vannemreddy, Yee Jing Goh, Youssef Francis, Robert Anthonappa

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of paediatric dentistry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Jilen PatelThe UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8698-4965
Akhil VannemreddyThe UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
Yee Jing GohThe UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
Youssef FrancisThe UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
Robert AnthonappaThe UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6278-9762

Funding

Australian Dental Research Foundation ADRF 280/2018
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLimitations in traditional caries detection tools have driven the development of alternatives methods, focused on the early lesion detection such as near-infrared digital imaging transillumination (NIDIT).

aimThe aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of NIDIT compared with bitewing radiography (BWR) in the detection of interproximal carious lesions in children.

designA retrospective audit of data from children who had NIDIT, BWR and intraoral photographs was conducted. Carious lesions were scored on a tooth surface level with BWR acting as the primary reference for comparison. Accuracy was determined using multi-class area under the curve (AUC), and correlation was determined using Fleiss' Kappa.

resultsData from 499 tooth surfaces involving 44 children were included in this study. The average age across the participants was 86 months (~7 years) with an average dmft (decayed, missing and filled teeth in primary dentition) of 5.29. Multi-class AUC comparing NIDIT to BWR was 0.70. The correlation between NIDIT and BWR was moderate (0.43), whereas the correlation between photographic examination and BWR was 0.30, which is fair.

conclusionWhen compared to BWR, NIDIT showed a high specificity but a low sensitivity for proximal caries detection in primary teeth.

Indexed as

Dental CariesRadiography, BitewingTransilluminationChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfrared RaysMalePhotography, DentalRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and Specificitybitewing radiographydental caries detectionDIAGNOcamnear‐infrared digital imaging transillumination

Identifiers

PMID38769611
PMCPMC11626495

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.