THE AIM OF THE STUDY

Was to assess the level of agreement of dentists’ opinions in determining the end point of preparation of carious cavities of various depths.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was conducted on 10 extracted carious molars, which were divided into 2 groups depending on the depth of the lesion D2 (n=5) and D3 (n=5). Cavities were prepared in several stages. At each stage, the study participants were asked to examine the carious cavity.

RESULTS

In cavities of medium depth at the level of soft dentin, the kappa coefficient was — 0.13, at the level of firm dentin — 0.26, 100% inter-rater agreement was achieved at the level of pigmented hard dentin. In deep cavities at the level of soft dentin, the Fleiss kappa coefficient was 0.05, at the level of firm dentin — 0.25, at the level of pigmented hard dentin — 0.11, 100% agreement of all participants was achieved only removing tissues to hard light dentin.

CONCLUSION

Dentists tend to prepare the carious cavity to a hard dentin. The lack of agreement in the criteria for determining the end point of carious dentin removal proves the need to use an objective method for assessing the quality of preparation.