Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39343878›Full record

ArticleBMC oral health2024

Methods used for caries detection and diagnosis in Ontario dental practices: a cross-sectional survey.

Daniel Han, Akshay Gupta, Abiola Adeniyi, Grace De Souza, Laura E Tam, Svetlana Tikhonova, Jacinta Santos, Abbas Jessani

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC oral health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

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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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

8 authors.

Daniel Han *Department of Dentistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada.
Akshay Gupta *Department of Dentistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada.
Abiola AdeniyiDepartment of Public and Global Affairs, Fairleigh Dickson University, Vancouver, Canada.
Grace De SouzaDepartment of Comprehensive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, USA.
Laura E TamDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Svetlana TikhonovaFaculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Jacinta SantosDepartment of Dentistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada.
Abbas JessaniDepartment of Dentistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada. abbas.jessani@schulich.uwo.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEarly detection of caries is essential for applying non-surgical treatment procedures and preventing the formation of cavitated lesions leading to unnecessary removal of tooth structure. Understanding dentists' preferences for caries detection tools can inform stakeholders about their strategies and knowledge of contemporary, evidence-based caries management approaches. However, there is a lack of research exploring the detection methods of caries commonly used by dentists in Ontario, Canada. The objective of this study was to investigate the methods of caries detection and diagnosis preferred by dentists in Ontario.

methodsA 21-item self-reported survey was mailed to one thousand Ontario dental practices in the Winter of 2022. Descriptive and bivariate data analysis were performed to determine the associations between: demographics and professional practice characteristics (explanatory variables), and methods for detecting and diagnosing dental caries (outcome variables) using SPSS Statistics 29.0.

resultsA total of 325 dentists (33%) responded to the survey, with 274 answering all of the questions completely. The highest proportion of respondents were 35-44 years of age (32.8%) and male (53.4%). More than half of the respondents reported using a dental explorer to assess primary occlusal caries (57.6%), secondary caries (57.1%), and cervical caries (57.5%). Likewise, 57.9% of the participants reported using dental radiographs to diagnose proximal caries. Among additional caries detection tools, digital radiography (89.8%) and traditional radiography (84.7%) were the most used methods/modalities, while cone beam computed tomography was the least (12.8%). Most study participants did not use any caries classification system (77.7%) or caries risk assessment tool (85.3%).

conclusionsParticipants preferred conventional methods for caries detection, instead of contemporary visual-tactile caries lesions classification and/or caries risk assessment systems. These findings indicate a need for continuing dental education programs tailored to evidence-based caries management approaches.

Indexed as

Dental CariesPractice Patterns, Dentists'AdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOntarioSurveys and QuestionnairesCariesDental caries detectionDental caries diagnosis

Identifiers

PMID39343878
PMCPMC11441147

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.