Reliability of panoramic radiographs for identifying supernumerary teeth in children

• Published in: International journal of paediatric dentistry 2012-01, Vol.22 (1), p.37-43
• Main Authors: ANTHONAPPA, ROBERT P., KING, NIGEL M., RABIE, A. BAKR M., MALLINENI, SREEKANTH K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Child; Children; Clinical Competence - statistics & numerical data; Dentistry; Dentists - statistics & numerical data; Houses; Humans; Observer Variation; Pediatric Dentistry - education; Pediatric Dentistry - statistics & numerical data; Pediatrics; Radiography; Radiography, Panoramic - statistics & numerical data; Reproducibility of Results; Risk factors; Sensitivity and Specificity; Statistical analysis; Supernumerary; Teeth; Tooth, Supernumerary - diagnostic imaging
• ISSN: 0960-7439; 1365-263X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-263X.2011.01155.x

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2011; 22: 37–43 Objectives.  To evaluate the reliability of panoramic radiographs (PRs) for identifying supernumerary teeth (ST) and to determine whether the level of dental training of the observer influenced the identification of ST. Methods.  Seventy‐five PRs were randomly selected from the patient records and 18 examiners independently rated 25 radiographs each, for specific risk factors as well as for a measure of adequacy. Subsequently, the results were paired with those of the other examiners who assessed the same set of PRs. Descriptive statistics were computed using Fisher’s exact test, and kappa statistics were used to assess the inter‐ and intra‐observer reliability. Results.  Four hundred and fifty PRs were available for analysis. The overall sensitivity and specificity figures were 50% and 98.3%, whereas the positive and negative predictive values were 90.6% and 83.6%, respectively. The sensitivity figures for Junior House Dental Officers and Postgraduate Paediatric Dental Trainees were 39.2% and 60.8%, whereas the specificity figures were 99.4% and 95% with slight inter‐examiner and moderate intra‐examiner reliability. Conclusions.  Panoramic radiographs are unreliable for identifying ST, and higher level of dental training is essential for identifying ST.