Oral Examination and Dental Caries Assessment

Intra oral examination was carried out using a sterile dental mirror and probe with the participant seated on a chair in a well-lit environment. All the teeth present in the mouth, with the exclusion of the third molars, were recorded using the Fédération Dentaire Internationale (FDI) notation. The DMFT index of the World Health Organization for dental epidemiological studies was used to determine the caries status of the participants [36 ]. The index includes the following: D- number of decayed teeth, M- number of extracted teeth due to caries, F- number of teeth filled or crowned due to caries and T- teeth present. Only teeth extracted due to caries were recorded as missing. Histories of missing teeth was elicited from the participants in order to exclude agenesis, trauma and other causes. Women who were caries free would have DMFT scores of 0. ‘Caries experience’ was denoted by any circumstance where where the DMFT score was ≥1. Oral hygiene status was evaluated using the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) [37 (link)]. The index comprises of debris and calculus scores on selected tooth surfaces. The buccal and lingual surfaces of the six index permanent teeth (FDI numbers 11, 16, 26, 31, 36, 46) were examined. Oral hygiene was classified as good, fair, or poor when score ranges were 0.0–1.2, 1.3–3.0, and >3.0, respectively.