Assessing validity of printed panoramic radiographs films for dental anomaly detection

Introduction: The interpretations of printed panoramic radiographs film frequently depend on personal judgements analysis by observers. The findings correlations between more than two observers must consider statistical tool which can determine that sometimes the observers will agree or disagree merely by chance. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) generally measures the degree of similarity among individuals within a cluster. Kappa statistic is the most frequently applied statistical analysis for this reason. This study aims to determine the validity of utilising printed panoramic radiographs for assessing dental anomalies and inter-examiner reliability in detecting dental anomalies observed within the panoramic radiographs. Methods: Twenty samples of printed versions of orthopantomogram (OPG) were arbitrarily selected from the AMDI Dental Clinic. Radiographic analyses were conducted twice, Trial 1 and Trial 2, with two-week intervals in between. Ten (10) printed OPG films were used in each session. During both assessments, incidence of dental anomalies was determined. All twenty OPGs were examined and analysed by the principal investigator and two independent examiners according to the inclusion and exclusion criterias. The data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23. Results: The results of ICC for Trials 1 and 2 were 0.961 and 0.984, respectively. Conclusion: The outcomes demonstrated that the printed OPG films can be used to detect dental anomalies and inter-examiner dependability was in very good assertion for both trials, hence printed OPG films that satisfy the inclusion and exclusion criterias can be utilised for assessing dental anomalies as shown by the reliable ICC values in this study