Diagnostic accuracy of digitized conventional radiographs by camera and scanner in detection of proximal caries

Background and aims. Digital radiographs have some advantages over conventional ones. Application of digital receptors is not routine yet. Therefore, there is a need for digitizing conventional radiographs. The aim of the present study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of digitized conventional radiographs by scanner and camera in detection of proximal caries.Material and methods. Three hundred and sixteen surfaces of 158 extracted posterior teeth were radiographed. The radiographs were digitized using a digital camera and a scanner. Five observers scored the images for the presence and depth of caries. Histopathologic sections were the gold standard. Kappa agreement coefficient was used for statistical analysis.Results. Kappa agreement coefficients between the camera and the scanner and also between each one with the gold standard in detecting the depth of caries were 0.504, 0.557 and 0.454, respectively. In detection of caries, the indexes were 0.571, 0.553 and 0.527, respectively.Conclusion. Diagnostic accuracy of camera images in caries detection was more than that of scanned images, but there was also a moderate consistency between them. The consistency of detecting the presence of caries was more than that of detecting their depths. It seems that both digital cameras and scanners can be used interchangeably.