Abstract

Visual-tactile method is still a commonly used technique in detecting caries even the International caries detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) has been exposed among dental operators in Malaysia. However, this method has been shown to have high specificity but low sensitivity and reproducibility. This study is conducted to determine the accuracy of visual-tactile method in diagnosing early occlusal caries lesion by dental practitioners in Malaysia. Fourteen posterior teeth were selected as samples for the assessment by 95 respondents from 9 different states which diagnosed each tooth as either sound, early or advanced caries following the criteria set. DIAGNO dent pen which is known as an accurate diagnostic tool in detection occlusal caries was used as a gold standard and the result was compared with the respondent’s visual-tactile assessment. Percentage was calculated and the result shown the percentage of accurate early occlusal caries detection using visual-tactile method is 43.23% (95% CI: 39.90, 46.56). In addition, the percentage of operators who misdiagnosed advanced lesion as sound or vice versa are 34.74% (95% CI: 24.99, 44.49) for 1 misdiagnosis, 6.32% (95% CI: 1.33, 11.30) for 2 misdiagnosis and 1.05% (95% CI: -1.03, 3.14) for 3 mis diagnosis. From this study, the level of accuracy for operators in Malaysia in detecting early occlusal caries lesion using visual-tactile method is relatively low. This finding is hoped to improve clinician awareness of the visual-tactile diagnostic method limitation so they will be more concerned and other devices or systems such as ICDAS should be used.