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Pilot Study of Rapid Caries Treatment Needs Screening – A Brief Communication
Author(s) -
SganCohen Harold D.,
Livny Alon,
Yavnai Nirit,
Fichtenholz Roberto
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2007.00054.x
Subject(s) - medicine , predictive value , dentistry
Objective: To evaluate a newly developed screening method for caries‐related treatment needs. Methods: The Rapid Caries Treatment Needs Screening (RCTNS) Index includes five ordinal nominal scores. Comparisons with conventional examinations were conducted among 565 young Israeli adults (aged 23 ± 5.3 years) by the same dentist. Results: According to conventional examination, 79.5 percent demonstrated caries‐related treatment needs as compared to 54.9 percent according to RCTNS. The sensitivity of RCTNS was 68.1 percent; specificity was 96.5 percent; positive predictive value was 98.7 percent; and negative predictive value was 43.9 percent. The calculated percentage of explained variance ( R 2 ) of the conventional examination results according to RCTNS was 55.6 percent. Conclusions: The data reveal the relevance of a rapid visual screening method for caries‐related treatment needs. This is a pilot study that demands further methodological refinement. Preliminary results revealed a potential, which should be further investigated.