Avaliação de índices CPOD simplificados em levantamentos epidemiológicos de cárie dentária

Abstract

ObjectiveTo analyze whether two simplified indices, "DMF in 6 Teeth"(DMF6T) and "DMF in two quadrants" (DMF2Q), could be indicated for epidemiological surveys of oral health according to dental caries distribution. MethodsThe sample came from epidemiological data in 29 municipalities. A total of 2,378 examinations were done on 12-year-old schoolchildren. The mean DMFT from each locality was utilized to obtain three DMFT prevalence groups (low, moderate and high), for which the simplified indices were calculated. Statistical analysis was done using intraclass correlation and the Wilcoxon and chi-squared tests, with a significance level of 5%. ResultsIntraclass correlation between the DMFT index and the simplified indices ranged from 0.82 to 0.95 (p<0.05). No significant differences in the prevalence of the studied parameters were observed between the means of the DMFT and DMF2Q indices (p>0.05), although DMF6T showed differences. The proportions of decayed, missed and filled teeth were similar between the DMFT and DMF2Q indices (p>0.05). ConclusionsThe simplified DMF2Q index can be used in epidemiological surveys in areas with low, moderate and high prevalence of dental caries. However, better evaluation of the DMF6T index needs to be made.

Contribution to the Viabilityof the DMF-T Simplificationin Adults and Older Adults

“…In this study, the comparison between DMFT index and the simplified DMF2Q index failed to identify differences between mean values found, suggesting the possibility of simplifying the index, regardless of gender and age of the study population as a reliable alternative based on symmetrical distribution of dental caries attack, similarly to other studies [6,11,12,14,16,17].…”

“…In this study, a systematic search in the main international bibliographic databases was conducted, and few articles whose object of analysis was the DMFT index in relation to the discussion of its methodology were found [6,12,13,16,17]. However, numerous works using this index have been identified, almost all using the "full mouth" method in order to obtain prevalence data and manifestation of dental caries in various countries, populations, age groups and study approaches, confirming the wide use of this index [4,[18][19][20][21].…”

“…For purposes of analysis, the following parameters were considered: a) mean DMFT [15] obtained by the average of decayed, missing and filled teeth of all teeth; b) DMF2Q [12] calculated by the average of decayed, missing and filled teeth in the upper left and lower right quadrants multiplying by two; c) DMFT of the right and left sides by separately registering the average of affected teeth in the upper and lower left quadrants and upper and lower right quadrants [13].…”

“…Dating back to the 50's, recurrent studies in scientific literature point to dental caries bilateralism, symmetrically affecting corresponding teeth in different quadrants, and this knowledge has promising application in public health [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], in case studies confirm the validity of partial exams to reveal the full manifestation of dental caries in the population.…”

“…A method tested was the examination of inspection and registration of decayed, missing and filled teeth in half of the upper arch and the opposite half of the lower arch, multiplying by two [7,12]. Thus, from the record of caries attack of only two quadrants (DMF2Q), upper and lower, crossing the sagittal plane, the number of teeth to be examined would be reduced by 50%, giving a value that if multiplied by two would correspond to the full-mouth DMFT [12].…”