Influence of clinical experience in detecting calcifications of the head and neck region on panoramic radiographs: an app-based evaluation

Introduction: Digital panoramic radiographs (DPRs) are used in dental practice as the first diagnostic tool for the initial detection of head and neck regions soft-tissue calcifications. The aim of this study was to use a self-developed application (App) to evaluate the ability of dental students at different levels of training to examine known DPRs with different soft-tissue calcification.

Methods: A total of known 100 DPRs with (n=50) and without (n=50) calcification were independently evaluated by four groups: preclinical, first clinical and last clinical dental students, and dentists with less than or equal to 1 year of professional experience in the same time (15 min) and examination conditions. Unity software was used to develop the examination App, which allowed to mark areas with calcifications on the DPRs. The data were statistically analyzed between the groups (significance level: P<0.05) for every location, and the detection rate was calculated as a percentage of detected calcifications.

Results: Results revealed that the overall detection rate of calcifications in all groups was 29.17%. Dentists exhibited the highest detection rate (36.46%), followed by the last- (29.69%), first- (32.29%), and preclinical (15.10%) students.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that clinical experience plays a role in the correct detection of soft-tissue calcifications in DPRs. However, deficiencies in radiological training during dental education may contribute to diagnostic errors. As these can become life-threatening risks, the results highlight the need for early training in the dental curriculum to improve diagnostic performance and minimize possible diagnostic errors.