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The relationship between caries activity and the status of dental caries--application of the Dentocult SM method
1Department of Pedodontics, School of Stomatology, Shanghai Tiedao University (STU), Zhabei District, PR China.
Objective:
To study the relationship between caries activity and the status of dental caries in preschool children using a caries activity test (CAT).
Materials And Methods:
The status of primary tooth caries in 229 children ages 3 to 5 was examined. Caries incidence, DFT, and caries severity index (CSI) were calculated. Based on the quantity of Streptococcus mutans in the oral cavity detected with Dentocult SM, a caries activity test, four grades of caries activity were classified: Grade 0 (< 10(4) colony-forming units/mL), Grade I (10(4)-10(5) CFU/mL), Grade II (10(5)-10(6) CFU/mL), and Grade III (> 10(6) CFU/mL).
Results:
The results showed that 79.48% children had Grade I or higher caries severity. Significant differences of caries activity were found among different grades, which were highly correlated with caries incidence, DFT, and CSI (r = 0.22216, 0.31212, and 0.32276, respectively).
Conclusions:
As a CAT, Dentocult SM is a reliable method for measuring the status of dental caries in preschool children. It is also a valuable tool in the prevention and treatment of dental caries.