Indices of root surface caries

Despite the increasing international interest in recent years in the epidemiology of root surface caries, there is no agreement on the diagnostic criteria to be used when the condition is recorded. In this paper the different methods used by dental epidemiologists are reviewed. It is shown that the wide variation in the levels of root surface caries recorded among different populations could be due to differences in the diagnostic methods as well as to inherent differences in the prevalence of the condition. It is recommended that an attempt be made to reach a global consensus on the methods of diagnosing root surface caries. Also, it is suggested that in reports of epidemiological studies of root surface caries, a basic set of tables including details of tooth loss be included.