In vivo comparison of laser fluorescence measurements with conventional methods for occlusal caries detection.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the laser fluorescence (LF) (DIAGNOdent) measurements comparing with visual examination and conventional bitewing radiography for occlusal caries detection. The study comprised 44 occlusal surfaces. Three examiners independently evaluated the teeth by visual examination, LF measurements, and bitewing radiographs. After the evaluations, the teeth were opened, and the clinical lesion depth was determined. One-way variance analysis (ANOVA) was performed for comparison of observers. The diagnostic performance of three methods was assessed by using non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, and Spearman rank correlation). No statistically significant difference was found between observers (p > 0.05), and statistically significant difference was found between diagnostic systems (p < 0.01). The correlation of LF measurements with the clinical lesion depth was better than visual examination and bitewing radiography. This result concluded that LF may be a useful adjunct to visual examination, and the diagnostic performance of this device seems to be good for occlusal caries detection.