Improving the competency of dental hygiene students in detecting dental restorations using quantitative light-induced fluorescence technology.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of a quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) technology in detecting dental restorations by comparing the detection ability of dental hygiene students between using conventional visual inspection alone and visual inspection combined with QLF technology.

METHODS: The subjects of this study comprised 92 dental hygiene students. The students assigned to the control group only used white-light images to visually assess the mouth environment, while those in the experimental group additionally used fluorescence images. Using the test results of an experienced inspector as a reference value, the agreement between the reference value and the evaluation results of the students in the experimental and control groups was evaluated using Cohen's kappa and the percentage agreement. The subjects were then classified into groups covering three percentage ranges according to the score distribution and agreement values of the three groups were compared. The percentage agreement was calculated according to the type of dental restorations.

RESULTS: The mean kappa value was significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (0.70 vs 0.60, p<0.001), as was the percentage agreement (80.06% vs 72.64%, p<0.001). The agreement rate when using QLF technology increased by 8% more in the middle and bottom percentage groups than in the top percentage group (p<0.001). The agreement rate also varied with the type of restoration, being significantly higher for a sound tooth or tooth-colored restoration in the experimental group (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Combining QLF technology with conventional visual inspections could improve the ability to detect dental restorations and distinguish sound teeth from aesthetic restorations.