Dental records are essential for dentist and patient protection, and its maintenance is considered an ethical and legal obligation of the dentist: Ethical, because it satisfies the duty of care that the dentist has toward his patient and legal, as it is an investment for future protection against medico-legal complications. In addition to its legal and ethical role, the dental fraternity in India is slowly waking up to its importance in forensic dentistry. Dentists could play a vital role in assisting forensic investigators in providing information that would help in the identification of perpetrators or victims of crime and natural or manmade disaster situations. This information would be easily available and accessible through well-maintained patient records under dental care.

Introduction:The proposed new index by Dr. Frencken: Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) Index. It addresses the assessment of clinical stages of carious lesion progression in enamel, dentine, pulp and cavity restored under 9 codes. Content validity as a part of psychometric testing was conducted by Frencken in Brazil, which included 15 countries and India was not included. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the face and content validity of CAST Index in India. Materials and Methods: Face and content validity of CAST Index was conducted amongst dentists with post-graduate degree qualification (Conservative and Endodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Public Health Dentistry and Oral Medicine and Radiology) in India. The proforma for content and face validation containing the description of the index along with the original article was given in person to 20 Subject Matter Experts (SME's) through convenience sampling. Results: The SME's concluded that face validity of CAST Index seemed to be a reasonable way of recording dental caries, and it was feasible and appropriate with certain modifications to use in the Indian population. The content validity ratio of all the codes of CAST Index showed that the "ACCEPTABLE" codes were 0, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Conclusion:The CAST Index could be used for epidemiological surveys in India but with a few modifications of the original index. Furthermore, its application can be justified due to a varied population with different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds in India and it also covers the entire spectrum of dental caries.