Patterns of dental caries among school children assessed using Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment tool

Abstract

Objective:The present study aimed to assess and monitor patterns of dental caries among primary and permanent molars using Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) index and to evaluate integration of CAST tool into patient health information (PHI) system of a Teaching Dental Hospital.Materials and Methods:Dental records of n = 348 children, aged 7–9-years, attending University Dental Hospital Sharjah, for routine checkup and treatment as part of School Dental Program were assessed and translated into CAST codes. Dental caries prevalence for the second primary and first permanent molars were recorded. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation of the status between primary and permanent molar.Results:CAST codes 0–2 were observed only in about 3% of primary and almost 5% in permanent dentition. The prevalence of children with diseased first permanent molar (codes 4–7) was almost 67%, while it was over 70% in second primary molars. A strong correlations were observed in the status between second primary and first permanent molars in the lower jaw on both right and left sides, r was 0.694 and 0.643 (P = 0.001), respectively. In the upper jaw, both right and left second primary molars revealed moderate correlation r = 0.435 (P ≤ 0.05) between disease stages with their neighboring permanent first molars. The unweighted kappa value for the intraexaminer reliability was 0.97 for second primary and 0.95 for first permanent molars.Conclusion:Our study recommends the integration of CAST tool in the PHI system where a simple numerical value can express clinical progress, overcome interruptions of treatment, and ensures continuity of patient care in teaching hospitals.

Risk factors and patterns related to dental caries evaluated with caries assessment spectrum and treatment (cast) among schoolchildren of Bhubaneswar, India

“…In the current study, proportion of molars with a thoughtful morbidity (involvement of pulp and tooth surrounding tissues) was particularly excessive for first molars (3.6%), and these additionally demonstrated the maximum tooth mortality (CAST code 5 and 6). This perception is like numerous past examinations where first molars were accounted for to be more influenced than second molars [11]. First molars were observed to be exceptionally helpless for caries than second molars due to number of variables, for example, age, early eruption, anatomy, large crown size and position in the oral cavity [13].…”

“…Although CAST has been utilized in various studies [8,11,20] to our knowledge there has been no studies previously reported on the schoolchildren in Bhubaneswar. Hence, the current study was aimed to determine the complete range of carious conditions and also to compare the risk factors and patterns of dental caries amongst schoolchildren of Bhubaneswar.…”

Assessment of Caries Spectrum of First Permanent Molars in 7- to 8-Year-Old School Children in Northern Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…It was observed that enamel lesions with ICDAS code 2 were the most prevalent lesions on occlusal surfaces of FPMs [23]. It has been reported that 67% of FPMs in schoolchildren in the UAE were scored CAST codes 4-7 [7]. A previous study in 7-to 8-year-old Polish children using the CAS index in primary and permanent molars revealed a higher number of cavitated lesions in the primary molars [13].…”

“…The advantage of CAST index is that it defines restored teeth as sound and healthy teeth, which is an epidemiologically replicates good healthy status [7]. The index disregards the need for drying the tooth surface; therefore, it is an easy system to implement at a community level [7].…”

“…The advantage of CAST index is that it defines restored teeth as sound and healthy teeth, which is an epidemiologically replicates good healthy status [7]. The index disregards the need for drying the tooth surface; therefore, it is an easy system to implement at a community level [7]. Moreover, acceptance of CAST index has been increased globally and was recognized as a potentially valuable instrument for planning dental caries control programs for both high risk and mass approaches [8].…”