COMPARISON OF THE CARIES STATUS USING DMFT, ICDAS II AND CAST INDEX SYSTEM.

Introduction:-Various methods for caries status evaluation are the Decayed Missing and Filled teeth index (DMFT) and the International Caries Diagnosis & Assessment System (ICDAS I and II). But serious difficulties in reporting results were encountered while using ICDAS II in epidemiological surveys which necessitated the development of a comprehensive but pragmatic caries assessment index known as CAST INDEX (Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment index). Objectives:-To compare caries status and the amount of time taken for caries status evaluation using DMFT, ICDAS II and CAST index. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifty three dental students were selected randomly and examined. Examination was done by a single calibrated examiner according to principles of DMFT, ICDAS II and CAST index. Evaluation of teeth status was performed in dry and wet situations according to codes of the system. Results:- When comparing the indices on the amount of time taken, it was noticed that CAST Index took the least time for evaluating a patient followed by DMFT and ICDAS II respectively and this difference was statistically significant(p = 0.001). Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive tests, ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis test and data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Conclusion:- CAST, the newer index, amongst the three is less time consuming and more useful for investigators in large epidemiological surveys.