Diagnostic Value of Senior Dental Students in Yazd About of Detection the Proximal Caries on Panoramic Radiographs Compared to Detection of Experts in 1394

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of man in the world and dentists should receive the capability to accurately diagnose of tooth decay during the training courses. In addition to clinical examination, the panoramic view and intraoral radiography is usually used for the caries detection. Therefore, the detection of caries on X-ray images can have a role in treatment planning.
In this analytical study, 10 panoramic radiographies that randomly selected, separately given to 30 senior dental students and 2 professors (in order to determine the gold standard). Data were analyzed using SPSS 17 software, diagnostic tables and indexes were prepared and the results were analyzed by Kappa test. Moreover, in order to determine the agreement between the professors and students about the depth of the decay the weighted kappa coefficient was used.
The kappa value about detection of presence or absence of proximal caries between professors and students's diagnosis was 0.428 (P value=0.001). Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value obtained by students in caries detection were %47, %91.9, %63 and %85.3, respectively. Coefficient of agreement in detection of depth diagnosis obtained by professors and students was 0.361(p value=0.000).
The diagnostic capability of senior dental students about caries detection was fair and depth diagnosis was slight.