Step by step baseline calibration in ICDAS: an in vitro study

Abstract

The ICDAS II represents an algorithm developed for assessing stages of caries. It becomes the main “instrument” used in epidemiological study of dental caries. All the examiners should be trained and calibrated to use correctly the ICDAS II clinical criteria before the study begins. This study presents step by step ICDAS II calibration process for the detection of occlusal caries (in vitro phase). 40 occlusal areas from 9 lateral teeth were examined in this experiment. The occlusal areas were assessed according to ICDAS II criteria and they were selected by one experienced examiner to present only scores between o and 4. Every area was also tested using DIAGNOdent Pen device, considering this evaluation as a “golden standard”. The inter-rater agreement (kappa) for the examiner to be calibrated was calculated using MedCalc® software and it was found to be 0.68. According to the weight kappa main scale the kappa value found in this study is considered to be good but for a principal investigator, it is recommended to have a higher value before the clinical study begins.