ACCURACY OF INTRAORAL CAMERA AND SMARTPHONE CAMERA IN TELEDETECTION OF DENTAL CARIES AMONG ADULTS: A DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY STUDY

Background and Objectives

Tele-dentistry combines telecommunications and dentistry to transmit clinical data for remote consultation and treatment planning. It improves dental care access for screening, referrals, and treatment. This study aimed to test the accuracy of intraoral camera and smartphone camera in the diagnosis of cavitated carious lesions among adults in Alexandria, Egypt.

Methods

A diagnostic accuracy study was conducted on adults above 18 years old visiting clinics of the Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University to compare 2 different tele-dentistry caries detection methods (intraoral camera (C50 Full HD with fluorescence) and smartphone camera (Samsung Galaxy A24) after randomizing the participants into 2 groups. The reference standard was face-to-face examination. The caries diagnosis was based on the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) through clinical examination, intraoral camera videos, and smartphone photos. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values were calculated for the 2 methods at tooth and surface levels.

Results

The study included 50 adults. The age group (26-40) comprised (46%) of the participants. Both cameras had high specificity and accuracy (>90%). The lowest sensitivity was in the case of detecting cavitated lesions at surface level (intraoral camera = 84.62% and smartphone = 79.52%). The smartphone camera had the lowest precision at both tooth (49.3%) and surface (58.4%) levels."

Conclusion

The intraoral camera showed higher accuracy than the smartphone camera especially in detecting cavitated carious lesions at surface level. While intraoral cameras are the preferred modality, smartphone cameras provide a more accessible and cost-effective alternative, especially in resource-limited settings. However, their limitations should be acknowledged.