The influence of film type and processing method on radiographic density for occlusal caries diagnosis

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the influence of the radiographic processing method on the radiographic density of two types of film. Radiographs from non-cavitated occlusal caries lesions obtained in a previous study were used. Methods: We analyzed 28 films from 12 patients that were obtained with the same X-ray device. Seven Ektaspeed (Kodak Eastman Kodak Co, Rochester, NY, USA) and seven Ultraspeed (Kodak Eastman Kodak Co) films were manually processed, while seven Ektaspeed and seven Ultraspeed films were automatically processed. The angle of incidence of the X-ray beam and the distances between the apparatus, the tooth and the film were standardized. Therefore, the study comprised four groups: GE1: Ektaspeed manually processed; GE2: Ektaspeed automatically processed; GU1: Ultraspeed manually processed; and GU2: Ultraspeed automatically processed. The images were digitized (G40450 Scan Jet C/T, Hewlett-Packard) and analyzed using Digora for Windows 2.7 (Soredex Medical Systems) to obtain the average radiographic density, and the data were analyzed using the Student’s t test for paired data (Bioestat 5.3). Results: Only the Ektaspeed film showed statistically significant differences between radiographic densities with different processing methods (p = 0.0037). Conclusions: The Ektaspeed film automatic pocessed is better suited for the early diagnosis of caries lesions.