This review of dental pulp test accuracy included 28 studies. While the findings suggest that laser doppler flowmetry and pulse oximitery are the most accurate the quality of the available studies is low.
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This review of panoramic radiography for IAN injury prediction after third molar surgery included 8 studies calculating key diagnostic data fro the 7 classical used signs. Values were to low to rule out post-operative damage before surgery but some siigns could rule in risk of injury.
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Akshay Nair explores the results of a systematic review of cognitive tests for dementia and mild cognitive impairment, which focuses on the MMSE, Mini-Cog, ACE-R and MoCA instruments. Along the way he explains how diagnostic tests work and how sensitivity and specificity are useful measures to get your head around.
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Samei Huda reviews a meta-analysis of multivariate pattern recognition studies, which aims to detect neuroimaging biomarkers for schizophrenia.
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Tracey Roberts summarises a recent diagnostic test review, which suggests that early improvement can act as a predictor of later response to antipsychotics in schizophrenia.
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This review included 9 studies assessing the predictive value of panoramic radiography on inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury after third molar extraction. Results suggest that darkening of the root had a high specificity in predicting IAN injury.
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This review of 117 studies, which were mainly in vitro studies (93), found radiographic caries detection to be highly accurate for cavitated proximal lesions and also suitable to detect dentine caries lesions.
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This review included 102 studies the majority (77%) being laboratory-based findings that visual inspection had good caries detection accuracy in primary and permanent teeth, with a trend for higher specificity than sensitivity.
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This study compared the diagnostic accuracy of dental screening by hygiene-therapists with dentists. The results show that they could be used to screen for caries and periodontal disease. This could allow for a change in the traditional model of dental care seen in the UK.
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While Computed Tomography (CT) is a well-established diagnostic tool in many areas of medicine it is only since the development of Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) that is use in dentistry is beginning to be explored. 2012 saw the publication of new European evidence-based guidelines on CBCT for dental and maxillofacial radiology as a result [read the full story…]
