Epidemiology of Dental Caries Flashcards
What are the common caries indices used?
DMF index: Decayed, Missing, Filled. Can be DMFT or DMFS to reflect ratio on surfaces or on teeth.
Significant caries index (SIC): Highlights differences within the population. Allows a specific targetted approach.
What are the limitations of the common caries indices we use?
No information on levels of current active disease
What do the various indices used for caries reflect?
They measure past and present disease
Reflects lifetime prevalence of dental caries
What are the limitations of the DMF index?
Can’t recognize whether tooth was extracted or exfoliated
Extractions for reasons other than caries
No information about teeth at risk
Equal weighting given to missing, untreated decay or well restored teeth
Do not account for restorations present for reasons other than decay
How common are untreated dental caries?
In 2010 caries in primary dentition were the 10th most prevalent condition affecting 9% of the global population, 621 million people worldwide.
What age sees the peak prevalence of untreated dental caries?
6 year olds
What is the SIC10 index?
Modified index of the mean DMFT/dmft of the 10% of children with the highest scores
Useful in Australia (SIC10 score ranges from 4 to 6 times higher than mean scores for an entire age group)
What can be said about the burden of untreated dental caries?
Caries are the 4th most expensive chronic disease to treat
The US projected spending for treatment of dental disease 122 BILLION in 2014
Causes severe pain and infection affecting children’s school attendance and performance and adults’ productivity at work.
How common are dental caries in children in Australia?
55% of 6 year olds experienced caries in the primary dentition
48% of 12 year olds experienced caries in the permanent dentition.
Which demographic most commonly gets dental caries in their primary dentition?
Untreated caries in primary dentition is higher in children:
Indigenous
Overseas born parents
Parents who have had less than tertiary level education
Low income households
Remote locations
Presented with a dental problem rather than for routine check ups
What kind of disease are dental caries?
A continuum of disease states characterized by subclinical changes and lesions with dentinal involvement
What are the symptoms of dental caries?
In the initial stages it is asymptomatic but when it reaches the dentin it becomes symptomatic.
What are the current standards for caries in epidemiologic surveys based on?
WHO criteria which measures cavitation level.
What is the DMF index?
Decayed
Missing
Filled
Permanent Teeth or Surfaces. DMFT can range from 0 to 28 or 32
DMFS can range from 0 to 88
What does the D in DMFT/S reflect?
Caries or caries+restoration
What does the M in DMFT/S reflect?
Missing
What does the F in DMFT/S reflect?
Restoration due to caries
How has the pattern of untreated dental caries changed from 1990 to 2010?
No major changes
Where are dental caries more common; males or females?
No significant difference between males and females.
What kind of factors influence the burden of dental caries?
Biological factors
Social factors
Financial factors
Who bears the burden of dental caries?
Individuals as well as health care systems
How common is edentulism in patients over 65y? Is there a propensity for one gender to get it more than another?
in 2013 19% of adults that old did not have any natural teeth.
This was the same for both males and females
How common are dentures in patients older than 65 with some natural teeth?
In 2013 19% of adults over 65y had no natural teeth and of those with natural teeth 42% WORE DENTURES.
How common are dental caries in children?
In 2010 children with dental caries (dmft+DMFT > 0) was 48% in 5yo and 69% in 9yo.
Children aged 5 and 6 had higher rates of untreated decay than older children.
What percentage of 5 to 14 yos had at least 1 tooth with untreated caries in primary dentition? (cross-sectional study of 5 to 14 year olds)
27.1% of 5 to 10 yos
What was the mean DMFS from 2012 to 2014?
Mean dmfs for 5 to 10 year olds was 3.1
Which demographics had the highest dmfs numbers?
Highest in:
Low income families
Indigenous
Remote areas
7 to 8 yos
What was the DMFS of permanent dentition in 5 to 14 yos like?
0.7 permanent tooth surfaces was affected by decay.
Which demographics in the 2012 to 2014 cross-sectional study had the highest DMFS in permanent dentition?
Indigenous
Low income households
Low parental education
Children with dental problems at presentation
What Australian state had the highest DMFT/DMFS?
NT had the highest number of untreated decay of primary tooth surfaces (2.6)
For WA - 1.0
