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Validity of Soprolife camera and Calcivis device in caries lesion activity assessment

British Dental Journal (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Aim An ex vivo study was performed to assess (gold standard [GS]: Nyvad criteria) sensitivities (SEs) and specificities (SPs) of Soprolife (fluorescence) and Calcivis (bioluminescence) - indicated, by the manufacturers, for activity assessment of coronal carious lesions (AACCL). We also calculated the positive and negative predictive values, positive and negative log-likelihoods, inter-examiner and intra-examiner variations, and concordance rates (CRs) of both devices compared to GS and to each other.

Materials and methods One hundred and twenty-one extracted posterior teeth were included. Within 48 hours after extraction, ICDAS and Nyvad scores were determined and occlusal photographs (Soprolife and Calcivis captures) were taken. Three examiners were asked to score, independently, twice (T0; T0 + 15 days), the caries activity status (active/inactive) for each image.

Results Both devices showed modest SEs and SPs. The only statistically significant differences between devices were for SE (p = 0.04) in favour of Soprolife (all ICDAS scores combined) and for SP (p = 0.03) in favour of Calcivis (ICDAS 3, 4). There were higher CRs for Soprolife than for Calcivis (compared to GS). Intra- and inter-examiner variations were 76-86.8% and 71.9-85.1% for Soprolife, and 79.3-89.3% and 72.7-86.8% for Calcivis, respectively.

Conclusion In light of the results, it seems difficult to confirm the validation of Soprolife and Calcivis for AACCL.

Key points

  • Caries activity assessment is one of the components of caries diagnosis at the lesion level; it allows better definition of the appropriate management option lesion by lesion.

  • Manufacturers and researchers are working together on the development of tools/devices to simplify the activity assessment of coronal carious lesions at the dental chair; the latest are based on fluorescence (for example, Soprolife) and bioluminescence (Calcivis).

  • Validation studies are needed to confirm the interest of the newly developed tools/devices.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Céline Lambert for statistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, Université Clermont Auvergne, UFR d’Odontologie, CROC EA 4847, 2 rue de Braga, 63100 Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Noémie Drancourt, Marie-Laure Munoz-Sanchez, Natacha Linas & Sophie Domejean

  2. Department of Oral Biology, Université Clermont Auvergne, UFR d’Odontologie, CROC EA 4847, 2 rue de Braga, 63100 Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Valérie Roger-Leroi

  3. Direction de la Recherche Clinique et des Innovations, CHU Gabriel Montpied, Rue Montalembert, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Bruno Pereira

  4. Department of Obstetrics, CHU Estaing, 1 rue Lucie et Raymond Aubrac, 63003 Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Françoise Vendittelli

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  1. Noémie Drancourt
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  2. Valérie Roger-Leroi
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Correspondence to Sophie Domejean.

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Drancourt, N., Roger-Leroi, V., Pereira, B. et al. Validity of Soprolife camera and Calcivis device in caries lesion activity assessment. Br Dent J (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2316-x

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