ICDAS II criteria has edge over WHO criteria for Caries Diagnosis in Children

Recent research revealed that the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS II) is a better and more valuable tool than WHO criteria for diagnosing early/non-cavitated carious lesions. The study was published in the International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry.

The most commonly used dental caries index in epidemiological studies is the decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT/dmft) index suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which indicates the prevalence of caries based on the occurrence of cavitation. Early detection of non-cavitated carious lesions enables the administration of preventive interventions which eventually reduces the morbidity and financial burden of restorative or rehabilitative therapy. Both the cavitated and non-cavitated carious lesions are included in the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS II) with satisfactory reliability. As there is not much literature on the difference between the two tools, Amita Raiet alfrom People's Dental College and Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal conducted a cross-sectional study to compare dental caries prevalence based on ICDAS II and WHO criteria.

Nearly 362 children visiting a local hospital for dental checkups were studied for dental caries prevalence based on the ICDAS II and WHO criteria.

Results:

• Among the study population, 290 (90.34%) and 169 (68.42%) children had dental caries in primary and permanent teeth according to the ICDAS II criteria.
• According to WHO criteria, 267 (83.18%) and 107 (43.32%) had dental caries in primary and permanent teeth, respectively.
• There was a significantly higher prevalence of dental caries (p<0.001) according to ICDAS II criteria when compared to the caries prevalence based on WHO criteria in both dentitions.

Thus, early/non-cavitated carious lesions could be easily identified by the ICDAS II tool rather than the WHO tool. This also helps in implementing early prevention strategies.

Further reading: Rai A et al.Comparative assessment of dental caries based on ICDAS and WHO criteria.https://doi.org/10.1111/ipd.13099