Performance of fluorescence-based methods in evaluating dentin caries removal

Abstract Introduction Clinical criteria have been used for the determination of the presence of residual caries, however in a subjective manner. Then the use of auxiliary methods that assist in determination of the remaining presence of caries can be considered for this purpose. Objective Evaluate the in “in vitro” efficacy fluorescence induction methods in the diagnosis of removing artificial dentinal caries. Material and method Ninety-four thirds sound human molars without occlusal enamel were used for microbiological artificial caries lesion induction. The decayed tissue was removed and the remaining dentin evaluated by two examiners with DIAGNOdent, DIAGNOdent pen and Quantitative Light-Induced Fluorescence - QLF. After all assessments, sections of the specimens were observed and photographed in stereoscopic lens with 30× increase by an independent examiner. These images were analyzed with Image J software, allowing quantitation of remaining caries tissue in mm2. The inter-examiner reliability, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve was calculated and the McNemar test (p0.05). The inter-examiner agreement ranged between 0.952 and 0.978. Conclusion Among the methods used, the DIAGNOdent, DIAGNOdent pen showed better performance in residual caries detection after dentin caries removal when compared to QLF.