Journal vol.4 no.1 abstract3 of The Japan Health Care Dental Association

The Journal of The Japan Health Care Dental Association Vol.4 No.1, 2002
abstract

Yoshiaki Nomura, Makiko Nishi

Dental caries have been suggested to be multi-factorial disease. In this respect, the clinicians have been used the caries risk tests that evaluate the etiological factors for the dental caries. Clinicians? empirical evidences have been shown that some of factors might contribute greatly compared with other factors. Then, it is necessary to evaluate the weight of the risk factors for the incidence of new dental caries. The determination of the weight of each factor may lead to establishment of effective method for the prevention of dental caries. In this study, data was obtained from the clinical examination of the 1664 outpatients of Hiyoshi Dental Office who satisfied the three inclusion criteria that the age was under twenty years old, caries treatment was completed with oral hygiene instructions and that risk factor evaluation was received at first visit and on the final clinical treatment. The number of patients who developed dental new caries during the maintenance period was 296 (17.8%) and the mean observation period was 2.84 ±2.11 years. (year range: 1 to 15 years) By the Logistic regression analysis, the scores of Dentocult SM and Dentocult LB, O?Lettys plaque control record and caries on deciduous teeth on the initial examination could be the prognostic factors for developing new dental caries. Especially, scores of Dentocult SM and Dentocult LB were statistically significant when adjusted by the age of the first visit and maintenance periods. And the analysis from the data of treatment completion, the same tendency was observed. Among the factors in the risk tests, the factors of the oral bacteria were especially important. The cut-off point of the each risk factor was also examined. As the result from this data, the cut-off points were set as 2 on the Dentocult LB, 3 on the Dentocult SM, 2 on the Dentobuff and 2 on the amount of dental plaque, 6 ml on the volume of 5-min stimulated saliva, 5 times per day on the frequency of meal taking, and 7 on caries on deciduous teeth. The effect of the regular check-ups were evaluated by NNT (Number Needed to Treat) The results indicated that the NNT of the regular check-ups was 6. This result suggested that the regular check-ups are very effective for the prevention of the dental caries.