An evaluation of bitewing radiographs in 5-year-old children.

Bitewing radiographs remain the most universally accepted aid in the detection of approximal caries in posterior teeth. The aim of this study was to evaluate their use in 5-year-old children. A total of 435 selected sets of films were read and the numbers of readable and unreadable surfaces were recorded. Of the total, 57 per cent of the sets of films were wholly readable; out of a maximum of 8700, 7490 readable surfaces were seen. Of the 248 wholly readable sets of films, 172 (69 per cent) had no evidence of caries, fillings or extracted teeth. The most common reason for loss of information was that surfaces were absent from the film (accounting for 7 per cent of all surfaces). Blurring of the surface affected 4 per cent of surfaces and overlaps a further 3 per cent. Despite the deficiencies seen, caries was diagnosed from more than one-third of all sets of films.