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Introduction:
What is DMFT index and how is it estimated?
This index was introduced for the first time in 1938, by Henry Klien, Carrole E.Palmer and Knutson J.W. Basically it is a very simple index which is commonly used to measure the prevalence of dental caries by counting the number of Decayed, Missing teeth, and Filled teeth. Please note that only missing teeth are counted that are lost because of dental caries.
So how DMFT is calculated? First of we should know which teeth are counted and which are not counted. Unerupted teeth, teeth missing but not because of dental caries, supernumerary and primary teeth remaining in the permanent dentition, these teeth are not counted, also the third molars are not counted. When a carious lesion or lesions appear on the tooth, it is listed as D, even if there is a restoration on that tooth. When a tooth is missing due to cariogenic reasons it is listed as M, and when there is a filling no matter permanent or temporary, the tooth is listed as F, but if there is a restoration because of non-cariogenic reasons such as cosmetic restorations the tooth will not be counted as F. As an example: DMFT of 2-3-7=12, here it means that 2 teeth have carious lesions, 3 teeth are missing due to cariogenic reasons and 7 filled teeth are present. We can also find out that 16 teeth are intact.
Strengths of DMFT:
The system is really easy, the dentist needs just an explorer and a mirror. So the dentist just needs to find caries lesions, missing teeth and filled teeth. During checking a lesion the dentist must make sure that, the lesion is visible, if there is loss of translucency or any discoloration in enamel. And as he uses explorer the tip of explorer should be able to penetrate into soft tissue of lesion and if checking a pit or fissure the tip resists removal after insertion.
Weaknesses of DMFT
Though DMFT index can give us powerful information and a good perspective on carious lesions But like other indices used the DMFT also, has weak points and can face us with some limitations.
For example some criticisms claim that it doesn’t provide data regarding to the number of teeth that are at risk or the data is not useful in estimation of of treatment needs. There are also other ideas about limitations of this index, such as: equality of an untreated decay, a missing tooth or a well-restored tooth, which in reality can never be given an equal weight.
Sealed teeth are not counted due to the fact that in 1930s the sealants and other cosmetic restorations did not even exist and that’s exactly when the method was introduced.
The other objection on this method is that this method can be misleading in children because a tooth may be lost in result of orthodontic reasons. It is not also significant in root caries, it also can be invalid in older patients because the patient may lose teeth because of other reasons such as periodontal diseases other than caries.
Bibliography
WHO | Oral health information systems. 2013. WHO | Oral health information systems. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.who.int/oral_health/action/information/surveillance/en/. [Accessed 12 October 2013].
Caries prevalence and Calculation - Malmö University . 2013. Caries prevalence and Calculation - Malmö University . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.mah.se/CAPP/Methods-and-Indices/for-Caries-prevalence/. [Accessed 12 October 2013].
Dental Examination. 2013. Dental Examination. [ONLINE] Available at:http://health.yahoo.net/galecontent/dental-indices/7. [Accessed 12 October 2013].
Indices for dental caries. 2013. Indices for dental caries. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/drabbasnaseem/indices-for-dental-caries. [Accessed 12 October 2013]
Dental Indices | Definition and Patient Education . 2013. Dental Indices | Definition and Patient Education . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/dental-indices. [Accessed 12 October 2013].
Beyond the dmft . (n.d.). The Journal of the American Dental Association . Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://jada.ada.org/content/140/6/650
