Improving treatment decisions from radiographs: effect of a decision aid.

Purpose: To test whether dental students' accuracy of treatment decision making for dentine caries using radiographs improved after using a decision aid (DA).

Methods: Dental students (n = 227) assessed the need for treatment for proximal surfaces of a test set of radiographs for a scenario patient. These 20 simulated bitewings contained 56 proximal test surfaces of which 14 were sound, 19 had enamel lesions and 23 had dentine lesions according to the histological "Gold standard".

[The effect of the risk of a complaint on treatment decision making. An explorative investigation in fourth-year dental students].

The perception of the seriousness of a false-negative or false-positive diagnosis could influence treatment decision making for carious lesions. In order to investigate this hypothesis, the perceived risk of a complaint at a disciplinary tribunal was used as an indicator of the seriousness of the consequences of treatment decision errors. Using a computer programme for caries diagnosis on radiographs and by means of a questionnaire, was investigated in a group of fourth-year dental students whether their accuracy of treatment decision making for carious lesions was dependent on the perception of the risk of a complaint at a disciplinary tribunal.

Evidence-based diagnosis and clinical decision making.

The application of evidence-based dentistry to diagnosis should result in a reduction of errors in decision making. The frequency of errors is dependent not only on the accuracy of a diagnostic test for pathology, but also on the prior chance of disease being present. If this chance is low and below a certain threshold, then, for example, applying a diagnostic test can result in more decision errors and therefore inappropriate treatment than omitting to use the test.

An evaluation by teachers of a decision aid for viewing bitewing radiographs.

Objectives: To evaluate a new decision aid to improve restorative treatment decision making for proximal caries from bitewing radiographs.

Methods: Dental teachers involved in patient treatment and clinical caries diagnosis (n = 31) viewed a computerized decision aid. Whilst using the aid, measures of the teachers' diagnostic and treatment accuracy, and also their decision-making knowledge and values were recorded.

[Evidence-based diagnosis and clinical decision making].

The application of evidence-based dentistry to diagnosis should result in a reduction in errors in decision making. The frequency of errors is dependent not only on the accuracy of a diagnostic test for pathology but also on the prior chance of disease being present. If this chance is low and below a certain threshold then, for example, applying a diagnostic test can result in more decision errors and therefore inappropriate treatment than omitting to use the test.