A simplified dental examination for detection of cavitated carious lesions in school setting.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to compare a simplified dental examination involving the use of a wooden spatula and a toothpick (TS examination) with the conventional dental mirror and probe examination (MP examination) for detection of cavitated carious lesions in schoolchildren.


METHODS
The study involved three groups of caries-positive schoolchildren aged 4-5, 9-10 and 13-14 years with 179, 188 and 202 children, respectively. All children were examined by a trained and calibrated examiner using a wooden spatula and a toothpick under natural light. After a week the same examiner examined the three groups of children by a dental mirror and a Community Periodontal Index (CPI) probe. 'Teeth' were considered as units of measurement for data analysis. The WHO recommended criteria (2) for decayed, missing and filled teeth were followed for recording dental caries on a specially designed recording form. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, false-positive rate and false-negative rate of TS examination were calculated using MP examination as the standard method.


RESULTS
The specificity of TS examination was well above 95% in three types of dentition. Although the sensitivity of this type of examination in deciduous and mixed dentitions was almost comparable with that of MP examination, it was the lowest for permanent dentition but still within the acceptable limits.


CONCLUSIONS
The TS examination can provide an alternative to traditional MP examination to undertake regular check-ups of schoolchildren for dental caries.
Haleem
Abdul
A
Community Dentistry Department, Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, SMC Campus, Karachi, Pakistan. drahaleem@yahoo.com
Khan
Ayyaz Ali
AA
Siddiqui
Muhammad Irfanullah
MI
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000473:pathology; D003762:Dental Instruments; D003804:Dentin / Q000473:pathology; D003818:Dentition, Mixed; D004867:Equipment Design; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan; D010517:Periodontics / Q000295:instrumentation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012571:School Dentistry; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology