293 - Comparison of the Prevalence of Dental Caries in Children Using Two Caries Detection Methods

Background: The selection of the appropriate caries detection method and the determination of the prevalence of dental caries are important to identify high risk groups and allow the implementation of preventive or restorative protocols to control the disease.

Purpose: To compare the prevalence of occlusal caries in primary and first permanent molars, using the ICDAS II system as the visual method (VM) and the SpectraTM fluorescence camera system as the fluorescence-based method (FBM).

Methods: A total of 160 children ages 7-12 years participated in the study. The prevalence of any occlusal caries (caries in enamel or in dentin), as well as the prevalence of caries in enamel only or in dentin was determined in all primary and first permanent molars using the VM and the FBM. Paired-sample proportion test was used to assess whether there was a significant difference between methods (p≤0.05).

Results: The preliminary analysis of the data revealed that using the FBM, the prevalence of any occlusal caries was significantly higher than when the VM was used. Regarding the prevalence of caries in enamel only or in dentin, the statistical analysis showed differences between the two methods, but these differences were associated with the type of tooth examined.

Conclusions: The prevalence of occlusal caries depends on the type of caries detection method used and might be associated with the type of tooth and severity of the carious lesion.