Khalid Hussain Sindi1, Nigel Lawrence Bubb2, Joseph Anthony Evans3, Diana Lynn Gutteridge4. 1. PhD student, Oral Biology Department, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom. Electronic address: drsindi@gmail.com. 2. Lecturer in Dental Materials, Oral Biology Department, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom. 3. Senior Lecturer in Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom. 4. Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, Restorative Dentistry Department, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This work assesses ultrasound's reproducibility for monitoring enamel thickness in vivo. STUDY DESIGN: This clinical reproducibility study recruited 30 healthy consenting volunteers. The enamel thickness on an intact maxillary central incisor was evaluated at 3 sites on 3 separate visits, 1 week apart. Bland-Altman statistical test and intraclass coefficients (ICC) were used to assess reproducibility. RESULTS: Reproducibility results were highest for the cervical site (bias [mm] = -0.01; 95% limits of agreement = -0.05, 0.04), followed by midbuccal (bias = 0.01; 95% limits of agreement = -0.04, 0.06) and incisal site (bias = 0; 95% limits of agreement = -0.25, 0.25). ICC was highest for the cervical site (0.96) followed by midbuccal (0.71). CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound is a sufficiently reproducible and reliable technique for monitoring change in enamel thickness, as in erosive tooth surface loss (TSL). The preferred sites for ultrasonographic measurements are cervical and midbuccal.
OBJECTIVE: This work assesses ultrasound's reproducibility for monitoring enamel thickness in vivo. STUDY DESIGN: This clinical reproducibility study recruited 30 healthy consenting volunteers. The enamel thickness on an intact maxillary central incisor was evaluated at 3 sites on 3 separate visits, 1 week apart. Bland-Altman statistical test and intraclass coefficients (ICC) were used to assess reproducibility. RESULTS: Reproducibility results were highest for the cervical site (bias [mm] = -0.01; 95% limits of agreement = -0.05, 0.04), followed by midbuccal (bias = 0.01; 95% limits of agreement = -0.04, 0.06) and incisal site (bias = 0; 95% limits of agreement = -0.25, 0.25). ICC was highest for the cervical site (0.96) followed by midbuccal (0.71). CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound is a sufficiently reproducible and reliable technique for monitoring change in enamel thickness, as in erosive tooth surface loss (TSL). The preferred sites for ultrasonographic measurements are cervical and midbuccal.