Diagnosis of selected pulpal pathoses using an expert computer system.

The diagnosis of dental pain that results from a pulpal pathosis may prove to be a confusing and complex issue for both dental students and experienced clinicians alike. A computerized diagnostic expert system, COMENDEX, was developed to aid in the clinical diagnosis of pulpal pathosis and to provide a rapid, accurate second opinion when a human consultant is not readily available. The vast majority of diagnostic expert systems use a single reasoning methodology as their inference mechanism. COMENDEX is a prototype hybrid expert system that combines and exploits the best aspects of both rule-based and statistical reasoning methodologies. The COMENDEX endodontic diagnostic system was tested to determine the validity and accuracy of its diagnoses by the use of a variant of Turing's test and weighted kappa statistic. The promising result obtained from the initial tests suggests that an expert system using this type of hybrid reasoning methodology is well suited to the area of endodontic diagnosis and may prove highly successful if expanded to include other problem areas in oral diagnosis.