The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of panoramic and intraoral radiographic surveys in the diagnosis of proximal caries according to the different dental regions (maxillary and mandibular incisor, canine, premolar and molar). In this study, full mouth series and panoramic radiographs of 79 patients were used. The radiographs were evaluated for proximal caries by three observers. The diagnostic accuracy of radiographic surveys for each dental region was assessed by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Full mouth series was the most efficient method in the diagnosis of caries for incisor and canine teeth. However, full mouth series and combination of panoramic plus bitewings had similar diagnostic accuracy for premolar and molar teeth. Panoramic survey alone was not sufficient for the diagnosis of proximal caries for the entire dentition. The combination of panoramic plus bitewing plus anterior periapical survey exhibited a diagnostic accuracy for proximal caries that was comparable with full mouth series.

Background: Age is considered as an important factor for the development of sublingual varices (SV). It has been suggested that some other conditions such as gender, systemic diseases, smoking, denture wearing may play a role in etiology. However, there is a limited number of studies investigating these associations. This study was perform to evaluate association between SV and the conditions which are described as possible risk factors previously. Materials and methods: A total of 691 patients (470 females, 221 males) who attended for comprehensive clinical examination were included in the study. Age, gender, systemic health, venous varix of the lower extremities, smoking status, denture wearing were recorded during the history taking. SV were classified into two categories: Stage 0 (few or none visible) and Stage 1: (moderate or severe). Tongue photographs were taken from a group of these patients. For the evaluation of intra-observer reliability, 60 photographs of tongue were re-evaluated by the same observer. Intra-observer reliability was evaluated using Kappa statistics. Pearson chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to assess SV in relation to each variable, and variables showing associations with P < 0.05 were selected for the multivariable analysis, then logistic regression analysis was applied. Results: Kappa value of intra-observer reliability was 0.91. SV were significantly associated with age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08, P = 0.000), hypertension (OR = 2.3, P = 0.007) and denture wearing (OR = 2.17, P = 0.02). Conclusions: The presence of SV is associated with hypertension and denture wearing as well as aging. More detailed studies are needed to prove causative relations between SV and systemic diseases. Background: Age is considered as an important factor for the development of sublingual varices (SV). It has been suggested that some other conditions such as gender, systemic diseases, smoking, denture wearing may play a role in etiology. However, there is a limited number of studies investigating these associations. This study was perform to evaluate association between SV and the conditions which are described as possible risk factors previously. Materials and methods: A total of 691 patients (470 females, 221 males) who attended for comprehensive clinical examination were included in the study. Age, gender, systemic health, venous varix of the lower extremities, smoking status, denture wearing were recorded during the history taking. SV were classified into two categories: Stage 0 (few or none visible) and Stage 1: (moderate or severe). Tongue photographs were taken from a group of these patients. For the evaluation of intra-observer reliability, 60 photographs of tongue were re-evaluated by the same observer. Intra-observer reliability was evaluated using Kappa statistics. Pearson chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to assess SV in relation to each variable, and variables showing associations with P < 0.05 were selected for the multivariable analysis, then logistic regression analysis was applied. Results: Kappa value of intra-observer reliability was 0.91. SV were significantly associated with age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08, P = 0.000), hypertension (OR = 2.3, P = 0.007) and denture wearing (OR = 2.17, P = 0.02). Conclusions: The presence of SV is associated with hypertension and denture wearing as well as aging. More detailed studies are needed to prove causative relations between SV and systemic diseases.

Objectives:The aim of this study was to investigate the applicability of Drusini’s and Cameriere’s methods to a sample of Turkish people.Methods:Panoramic images of 200 individuals were allocated into two groups as study and test groups and examined by two observers. Tooth coronal indexes (TCI), which is the ratio between coronal pulp cavity height and crown height, were calculated in the mandibular first and second premolars and molars. Pulp/tooth area ratios (ARs) were calculated in the maxillary and mandibular canine teeth. Study group measurements were used to derive a regression model. Test group measurements were used to evaluate the accuracy of the regression model. Pearson’s correlation coefficients and regression analysis were used.Results:The correlations between TCIs and age were −0.230, −0.301, −0.344 and −0.257 for mandibular first premolar, second premolar, first molar and second molar, respectively. Those for the maxillary canine (MX) and mandibular canine (MN) ARs were −0.716 and −0.514, r...

The aim of this study was to test the performance of the third molar maturity index (I3M) for discriminating between adults and minors. Panoramic radiographs of 760 individuals aged 11 to 25 years were assessed and validity of I3M < 0.08 was tested. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and Youden’s index were used to test the performance of the method. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.554 (95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.487–0.619) and 0.962 (95% CI, 0.926–0.983) in females, 0.750 (95% CI, 0.666–0.829) and 0.949 (95% CI, 0.910–0.974) in males, respectively. The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 0.747 (95% CI, 0.703–0.786) and 0.884 (95% CI, 0.815–0.895) in females and males, respectively. In addition, an optimal cut-off value was determined as I3M < 0.19 for females. When we used this cut-off value in females, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were as follows: 0.820 (95% CI, 0.764–0.867), 0.833 (95% CI, 0.775–0.880) and 0.826 (95% 0.768–0.843). The I3M gave better results when using a sex-specific cut-off value in a Turkish sample.