Research Article
Carmen Hanganu, Alice Murariu
Abstract
Different caries risk prediction models have been developed in recent years. The Cariogram is a new concept that illustrates graphically the multifactorial background of dental caries and assess an individual’s caries risk profile more correctly than other risk prediction methods. Objectives: The aims of this study was to assess the dentistry students caries risk by means of the Cariogram software and examine the relationships between the caries related factors and the risk of caries determined by this program. Methods: Data were collected from 112 dentistry students in grade five from the Faculty of Dental Medicine in Iasi, Romania, by clinical examination, saliva sampling and a dietary questionnaire. The caries risk of each individual, expressed as the chance to avoid new caries, was then obtained by drawing up the Cariogram. Results: Past caries experience, Streptococcus mutans counts, fluoridation programme and buffer capacity of the saliva are the main factors included in the Cariogram that showed significant correlation with the caries risk determined by this software. Other variables that the Cariogram does not include directly, such as DMFT, DMFS and the plaque index, also showed high correlation with caries risk. Conclusions: The predictive variables which make the greatest contribution to the caries risk assessment are: Streptococcus mutans count, DMFT index and the buffer capacity of the saliva. Cariogram is a useful pedagogic tool for dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants in discussions with patients about their caries risk.