Objectives: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a YOLOv8x-based deep learning model for detecting approximal, occlusal and buccal caries on paediatric panoramic radiographs and to compare its performance with human observers with different levels of clinical experience. Methods: A total of 1526 panoramic radiographs obtained from children aged 5–12 years were retrospectively analysed. Approximal, occlusal, and buccal caries in primary molars were annotated and used to train a YOLOv8x object-detection model. Model performance was evaluated on an independent test set and compared with three human observers: an intern dentist (ID), a novice specialist student (NSS), and an experienced specialist student (ESS). Diagnostic performance was assessed using precision, sensitivity, F1 score, and true positive counts. Results: The YOLOv8x model demonstrated moderate performance in detecting approximal caries (F1 score: 0.576) but showed limited performance for occlusal caries (F1 score: 0.24) and failed to detect buccal caries. The AI model showed lesion-dependent performance. For approximal caries, it performed comparably to ESS observers (p > 0.05) and better than ID (p < 0.001). Performance was poor for buccal caries (p < 0.001), and intermediate for occlusal caries, with no difference from NSS or ESS (p > 0.05) but lower than ID (p < 0.001). Overall, performance was comparable to experienced observers (p > 0.05) and superior to less experienced observers (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The YOLOv8x model achieved diagnostic performance comparable to less experienced clinicians in detecting dental caries on paediatric panoramic radiographs but did not reach expert-level accuracy. These findings suggest that deep learning models may serve as supportive tools in panoramic caries assessment rather than replacements for expert interpretation.

Değerli okuyucular, Diş hekimliği alanında önemli mesafeler kat etmiş değerli meslektaşlarımızın olağanüstü katkılarını ortaya koyan son kitabımızın heyecan verici haberini sizlerle paylaşmaktan mutluluk duyuyoruz. Diş hekimliği disiplinler arası araştırma ve işbirliği gerektiren çok yönlü bir alandır ve kitabımız radyoterapi ve kemoterapi alan hastalarda dental uygulamalar, temporomandibular eklem rahatsızlıkları ve güncel tedavi yaklaşımları, gümüş diamin florürün çocuk diş hekimliğinde kullanımı, çocuk diş hekimliğinde güncel anestezi uygulamaları, dental beyazlatma işlemleri, diş hekimliğinde yeni dönem dijital çağ: CAI/CAD/CAM teknolojisi ve ileri imkanlar, tek renk universal kompozitler, post-endodontik restorasyonlar ve sonlu elemanlar analizi gibi diş hekimliğinde geniş bir yelpazeyi kapsamaktadır. Bu kitabın ortaya çıkmasında gösterdikleri sarsılmaz destek ve özveri için yazarlarımıza ve yayın ekibimize içten şükranlarımızı sunmak istiyoruz. Bu kitabın, insanlığın geleceği için diş hekimliği literatürünü geliştirmek için yorulmadan çalışan bilim adamlarımıza ilham vermesi ve onları aydınlatması ümidimizdir. Saygılarımla, Doç. Dr. Ömer Hatipoğlu Esteemed readers, We are delighted to share with you the exciting news of our latest book release, which showcases the exceptional contributions of our esteemed colleagues who have made significant strides in the field of dentistry. Dentistry is a multifaceted field that requires interdisciplinary research and collaboration, and our book covers a wide range of topics in dentistry, including dental applications in patients receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy, temporomandibular joint disorders and current treatment approaches, use of silver diamine fluoride in pediatric dentistry, current anesthesia applications in pediatric dentistry, dental whitening procedures, new era digital age in dentistry: CAI/CAD/CAM technology and advanced opportunities, single color universal composites, post-endodontic restorations, and finite element analysis. We want to express our sincere gratitude to our exceptional writers and publishing team for their unwavering support and dedication in bringing this book to fruition. It is our hope that this book will inspire and enlighten our fellow scientists who are tirelessly working to advance the field of dentistry for the betterment of humanity. Sincerely, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Hatipoğlu