A lecture give to fourth year dental students about DMF teeth indices to assess coronal caries.

1. DMF Teeth Indices for Coronal
Caries Assessment
Dr. Alaa Husni Qari. BDS., CAGS., DScD.
January 24th, 2021
Public Health I
Umm Al Qura University College of Dentistry
Division of Dental Public Health, Department of Preventive Dentistry

2. Objectives
DMFT INDEX CARIES DETECTION CRITERIA FOR
CALCULATION OF DMFT

3. The Decayed, Missing, Filled Tooth (DMFT) index
Permanent Teeth
DMFT index is applied to teeth
Definition
• DMFT is the sum of the number of Decayed, Missing due to caries,
and Filled Teeth in the permanent teeth.
https://www.who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry/imr-details/3812
https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/professional-education/ce-courses/ce368/epidemiology-the-dmf-index

4. D component
Describes the “Decayed” teeth that include the
followings:
• Carious tooth
• Filled tooth with recurrent decay.
• Only the roots are left
• Defect filling with caries
• Temporary filling
• Tooth has both carious lesion(s) and a filling
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

5. The Identification
Criteria of Dental
Caries - WHO
• The Lesion is clinically
visible and obvious
(cavitation)
Image source: Wikipedia
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

6. The Identification
Criteria of Dental
Caries - WHO
• Undermined enamel: discoloration or loss of translucency
• The explorer tip catches or resists removal after moderate to firm
pressure on insertion in discolored pits and fissures. Also, when there is
there is softness at the base
http://www.myshared.ru/slide/1344392/ https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE
Mouth Mirror
Explorer

7. M Component
Describes “Missing teeth due to caries”
Extracted/ removed teeth for reasons other than caries should be excluded (Not Counted) such as
the followings:
• Orthodontic treatment
• Impaction
• Periodontal disease
https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/professional-education/ce-courses/ce368/epidemiology-the-dmf-index https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

8. F Component
Describes the following points:
• Filled teeth due to caries
• permanent filling
• There was no secondary (recurrent) caries or other area of the tooth with primary caries.
• Un-defected fillings
• Tooth with a crown placed because of a previous decay
https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/professional-education/ce-courses/ce368/epidemiology-the-dmf-index https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

9. Teeth restored for other reasons than dental
caries should be excluded such as the
followings:
• Trauma (fracture)
• Hypoplasia (cosmetic purposes)
• Bridge abutment (retention)
• Preventive fillings and fissure sealants
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE
Teeth Not Counted

10. Rules in
Recording
DMFT
• No tooth must be counted more than once,
either decayed (D), missing (M),or Filled (F)
teeth.
• Decayed, missed and filled teeth should be
recorded separately.
• Tooth may have several fillings on different
surfaces should be counted only once as
filled tooth F.
• Tooth might have a filling in one surface and
a decay in another, it should be counted as
decayed D.
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

11. Rules in
Recording
DMFT
• Secondary caries under the filling should be
recorded as decayed D.
• Deciduous (primary) teeth should not be
counted.
• Count the erupted teeth (cusp tip or incisal
edge is exposed)
• Count the tooth as present even though the
crown has been destroyed and only the
roots are left
Courtesy to Dr. Afnan Nassar https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

12. Rules in
Recording
DMFT
Exclude the followings:
• Congenitally missing
• Supernumerary teeth
• Primary teeth retained in the permanent
dentition.
• Unerupted teeth
• Avulsion teeth due to trauma or accident
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE

13. Recording
DMFT
Check only the first 2 minutes for recording the DMFT
https://youtu.be/o5NcrgLinQ8

14. Calculating
DMFT
1. For Individual (DMFT= DT + MT + FT)
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE
Scores range: 0 -28 or 0-32 (3rd molars included)

15. Calculating
DMFT
1. For Population
Total DMFT for the group
https://youtu.be/lYYx9vQXHKE
Total no. of individuals examined
Mobile Dental Clinics of Umm Al-Qura University
College of Dentistry

16. Thank you!
Please contact me for any questions
ahqari@uqu.edu.sa