An Assessment System for the Consequences of Untreated Dental Caries

• Published in: Indian Journal of Oral Health and Research 2015-07, Vol.1 (2), p.62
• Main Authors: Dev Dutt, VAnil, Sekhar, VRaja, Boddeda, KondalaRao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2393-8692; 2543-1978
• DOI: 10.4103/2393-8692.172034

Aims and Objectives: To assess the prevalence of caries experience using decay-missing-filled teeth (DMFT)/decayed, extracted, and filled teeth (deft) index and severity of clinical consequences of untreated dental caries (PUFA/pufa index) in the age groups of 6, 12, and 15 years in urban and rural school going children of Visakhapatnam District. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 689 rural and urban school going children of Visakhapatnam District with the age groups of 6, 12, and 15 years were randomly selected. Intra oral examination was carried out to assess dental caries experience using the World Health Organization criteria. For data collection, DMFT/deft and PUFA/pufa index were used and data collected was tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The mean prevalence of caries (DMFT + deft > 0) in rural: 37.37% and urban: 26.28%, and the mean prevalence of clinical consequences of untreated dental caries (PUFA + pufa > 0) in rural: 11.9% and urban: 10.7%. The "untreated caries, PUFA ratio" for 6 years children was found to be 53.33% in rural and 50% in urban, for 12 years children was found to be 41.05% and 16.43%, whereas for 15 years it is 15% and 17.54% in rural and urban children, respectively. Conclusion: The study showed that the prevalence of clinical consequence of the untreated dental caries is high in the rural children of age groups 6 and 12. Hence, the use of PUFA/pufa index as a compliment to the classical caries indices can address the neglected problem of untreated caries and its consequences. Furthermore, PUFA/pufa data may be used for planning, monitoring, and evaluating the treatment plan by the health care providers.