Abstract:
Background and Aim: The common method of caries status evaluation is the number of decayed, missed and filled teeth (DMFT) index. Recently the International Caries Diagnosis and Assessment System (ICDAS) has been introduced for a detailed evaluation of the dental caries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the caries status with this new system while comparing it with the DMF index as a common method for caries evaluation. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross‐sectional design study was performed to evaluate the caries status. The participants were conveniently selected from 500 dental students attending the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Benghazi, Libya. A single trained and calibrated examiner using a dental mirror and a WHO probe per the DMFT, ICDAS index systems, performed the examination. The numbers of decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth were recorded in DMFT form. In the ICDAS, the evaluation of teeth status was carried out in pit and fissure surfaces in dry and wet situations according to the codes of this system. Paired t test and Pearson correlation test were used to compare between DMFT and ICDAS indices.
Results: All participants had caries experience (DMFT>0). The ICDAS index showed that participants had some form of caries in different phases of caries progression and extension. No statistically significant differences in numbers of missing teeth due to caries (p=0.854) or filled teeth (p=0.166). On the other hand, ICDAS index revealed significantly higher numbers of decayed teeth and the overall
score than DMFT Index (p≤0.001). The correlation test revealed statistically significant correlation between numbers of carious, filed teeth and missing teeth according to DMFT and ICDAS index (p≤0.001).
Conclusion: The inclusion of non-cavitated lesions during the caries evaluation by ICDAS represents a challenge in diagnosis, which allows for control of this process before the evolution of these lesions to cavitation and promotes advanced preventive therapies. DMFT index underestimates lesions that do not require any invasive treatment.
