Impact of treatment provision on the epidemiological recording of root caries

The estimation of root caries prevalence and the identification of risk fac tors for decay depend upon the successful identification of carious lesions in epidemiological studies. Root surface restorations can either be placed to manage decay or cervical wear/sensitivity. The handling of data for res torations during epidemiological surveys is critical to the accurate assess ment of caries prevalence. The objective of this study was to determine the relative frequency of dentists' placing root surface restorations accordin g to their reason for placement. Data for 696 restorations were recorded fr om 35 dentists. Forty-five % of restorations were placed because of decay c ompared with 55% for cervical wear/sensitivity. There were no significant d ifferences in proportion of placement of restoration with age of the patien t or between regular and irregular attenders of different ages. Using these data a correction factor was developed for inclusion in the Root Caries In dex (RCI) to make allowance for the proportion of restorations placed becau se of wear sensitivity. When this correction factor was introduced into an existing data-set for root caries, the RCI was reduced for all groups. This reduction was greatest in regular attenders. When these data were analysed without making allowance for treatment effects, there was a significant di fference in RCI between regular and irregular attenders. When the correctio n factor was applied to these data, this difference was eliminated.