Caries Activity Test by Dr Qurat-Ul-Ain Assistant professor Community Dentistry Department HBS Dental College, Islamabad

1. CARIES
ACTIVITY
TEST

2. Learning Objectives
Introduction
Objectives &
Advantages of CAT
Different terms
Criteria of an ideal caries activity test
Types of CAT

3.  Prevention of dental caries is not affective
without using microbiological methods; just
like obesity controlled program runs
without a measuring scale .

4. Objectives of CAT
CAT required for future oral health of individual as a
part of primary prevention that make up
comprehensive Oral Health Care. Perhaps CAT
comfort the clinical management of patients by
following reasons
1. Identify need and extend of patient treatment
2. Assist as an index of successful treatment

5. Objectives of CAT
3. To Monitor patients behavior modification
towards dietary habits and oral environment
i-e S. Mutans / Lactobacilli & sucrose intake
4. To manage development of restorative
procedures (Extensive Restorative procedure
need to ensure low level caries activity before
start)

6. Caries Activity Test Advantages
1. Permit public health dental personnel to screen large
segments of the population for example school children
2. Permit to evaluate certain parameters in relation with
challenge, defense & repair that will specify existent caries
activity/inactivity of every single patient and that results help
to design strategies for caries prevention .
3. Permits the researcher to understand better caries process
and invent new treatments or strategies

7. Ideal Properties of Caries Activity Test
1. Maximum connection should have between
predicted and real caries growth
2. Test should have reliable & valid
3. Technical procedures should have simple as well as
skills required

8. Ideal Properties of Caries Activity Test
4. Should have short time for obtain results i-e within
hours or few days
5. Caries process mechanism should measurable
6. Should be low cost, easy to evaluate non – invasive
& any clinical setup can apply it.

9. Following Terms
1. Caries Activity
2. Caries Susceptibility
3. Caries Activity test

10. Caries Activity
 Refers to the increment of active lesion over a
stated time period to measuring rapidity of
development of carious lesion is called caries
activity

11. Caries Susceptibility
 Refers to the inherent tendency of host and target
tissue (tooth) to be troubled by the caries process
 This is resistance of a tooth to a caries producing
environment

12. Point To Remember – Caries Activity
(CA)Versus Caries Susceptibility (CS)
 There are two important landmarks of caries
process in relation with Primary Preventive
Dentistry;
1- Initiation of subsurface lesion (CA)
2- Terminal stage of subsurface lesion (CS)
Hence, we can arrest and reverse the progress of
caries

13. Caries Activity Tests (CAT)
Its calculate the levels to which local
environment challenge i-e diet ,
bacterial metabolism favours the
likelihood of carious lesions

14. Test Which Measure Caries Activity
1. Lactobacillus colony count
2. Streptococcus mutans level in saliva
3. Dip slide method for s. mutans count
4. S.mutan Screening test
5. Alban test
6. Dewar test
7. Swab test
8. Salivary buffer capacity

15. Test which measure caries
susceptibility
1. Snyder’s colorimetric
2. Enamel solubility test
3. Dewar test
4. Fosdick calcium dissolution test
5. Salivary reductase test

16. Various Caries Activity Test
1. Lactobacillus Colony Count Test (Hadley -1933) ,
 acidogenic & aciduric bacterial count from patient saliva
2. Calorimetric Snyder Test (Snyder- 1951) ,
 it measures microorganism which forms acids from
carbohydrates
3. The Swab Test (Grainger- 1965),
 similar to snyders test except no collection of saliva required

17. Various Caries Activity Test
4. Streptococcus Mutans Level in Saliva,
 sample collected from dental plaque
5. Dip- Slide Method for S. Mutans Count,
 sample collected from saliva
6. Salivary Buffer Capacity Test
 Salivary pH measured by pH – meter

18. Various Caries Activity Test
7. Enamel Solubility Test ( Susceptibility Test)
 Glucose & enamel powder mixed in saliva & tested
8. Salivary Reductase Test (Susceptibility Test)
 Measure the activity of reductase enzyme present in
salivary bacterias
9. Alban Test
 It is a simplified substitude for the Snyder test

19. Various Caries Activity Test
10. Streptococcus Mutans Screening Test
 Simple Screening of dilutes plaque sample
streaked on a selective culture media
11. Fosdick Calcium Dissolution Test
 This test measures the milligrams of powdered
enamel dissolved in 4hr by acid formed when the
patients saliva is mixed with glucose and powdered
enamel