There is a paradigm shift in conservative dentistry by substituting the surgical model with the medical model of treatment. Early detection of initial carious lesions will aid in clinical decision making during management ; either no care advised, preventive care advised or operative care advised. According to recent systematic reviews meticulous visual examination using ICDAS II presented a substantial level of reproducibility and accuracy for assessment of carious lesions and was considered the reference for clinical visual assessment . However, visual examination is subjective and is highly dependent on the dentist's skills and experience, with high specificity and low sensitivity. New devices have been developed to detect and quantify incipient demineralization. Besides visual detection systems, laser fluorescence assessment can be considered a suitable method. In vitro data suggested that the visual examination and fluorescence method have similar accuracy to detect initial carious lesions.
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Diagnostic accuracy
Timeframe: Immediate (cross-sectional)