Assessing root caries in populations: the evolution of the root caries index

This paper traces the history of the epidemiologic assessment of root caries over the past 30 years. This history clearly points out that a critical junction has been reached between the state-of-the art for the reporting of root caries and the demand placed on research and service components of the oral health system. If progress is to be made, it is imperative that a uniform reporting method for root caries be adopted. This paper introduces the Root Caries Index (RCI) as an index that should prove to be a feasible and utilitarian method for reporting root caries data in descriptive and analytic epidemiologic studies as well as assessing the results of preventive and treatment agents, clinical trials. The Root Caries Index represents, in the evolution of a root caries measurement method, a refinement of the delineation of the true intraoral "population at risk" to the disease process. The resulting index is a true attack rate for supragingival root caries lesions. This development should permit more meaningful comparison of populations, clearer interpretations regarding risk factors, and more precise assessment of preventive and treatment agents.

Periodontal considerations in the use of bonds or bands on molars in adolescents and adults

This longitudinal study compared the periodontal status of bonded and banded molars in 20 adult and 40 adolescent patients before, during and after treatment with fixed orthodontic appliances. Plaque accumulation (measured by the Plaque Index), gingival inflammation (measured by the Gingival Index and the bleeding tendency), and pocket depth were assessed by one examiner at sites along the mesio-buccal line angle of the maxillary right first molar and the mandibular left first molar. Assessments were made immediately prior to the placement of fixed appliances (pretreatment), at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months after appliances were placed; and 3 months after appliances were removed (posttreatment). Loss of attachment between the pretreatment and posttreatment visits also was determined. At pretreatment, no significant differences were found in gingival inflammation between maxillary and mandibular banded and bonded molars. During treatment, both maxillary and mandibular banded molars showed significantly (p less than 0.05) greater gingival inflammation and plaque accumulation than did bonded molars. Three months after appliance removal, the maxillary molars that had been banded continued to show significantly more gingival inflammation and loss of attachment than did the maxillary molars that had been bonded. When all banded and bonded teeth were grouped by patient age, mean values for plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation in the maxillary molar regions were significantly greater for adolescents than for adults.