Introduction

The purpose of this program is to assist in generating a differential diagnosis for radiographic lesions of the jaws. It will evaluate information you provide and compare it to lesions manifested in this region. On the Patient Characteristics page there are 17 questions regarding your patient or lesion. Please select the single best answer describing the lesion you are evaluating. It may be useful to run ORAD with different settings to evaluate various options. If you select “unknown” or “unselected” in any category then this feature is not considered in formulating a differential. The relative prevalence of each condition is considered in formulating a differential. You may select to inactivate this feature by selecting “No” for “prevalence.” To generate a differential diagnosis after you have selected the most appropriate description for each lesion characteristic touch the button at the bottom labeled “Differential”.

The Differential Diagnosis page displays the differential diagnosis for the lesion you described. If you recognize that one or more lesion suggested by ORAD is clearly inappropriate, then you may remove it from the Differential Diagnosis list by checking the box to the left of the lesion and touching the button labeled “Remove Lesion(s).” ORAD will then recalculate the differential without these lesions. This process may be repeated as often as desired. You may also wish to deselect a common, and appropriate, lesion to see less prevalent lesions matching the patient criteria. After one or more lesions have been removed they may be restored by touching the button labeled “Restore.” Lesions with additional information are shown with a small image icon. These are live links.

In the Lesions section you may search for a lesion by selecting the “Lesions” button. You may also find references for lesions by clicking on the lesion name.

The lesion data base information is analyzed using Bayes' theorem as described in White, SC: Computer-aided differential diagnosis of oral radiographic lesions. J Dentomaxillofac. Radiol.18(2)53-59, 1989. PMID: 2699592  DOI: 10.1259/dmfr.18.2.2699592

Acknowledgement

Mr. William L. Scheding has volunteered his expertise for three decades to bring ORAD to the web and continuously upgrade its functionality. It would not be here now without his efforts. Thank you Bill.