The caries examination standard of the WHO (21 ) was used to record the caries lesions. The physicians who performed the oral examination included one senior physician (a dentist with more than 10 years of clinical experience and a license for medical practitioner) and three resident doctors (a dentist with more than 2 years of clinical experience and a license for medical practitioners). Three resident doctors received standardized caries examination methods and skills training by using clinical intraoral photographs. Each resident doctor independently examined 20 children aged 6–8 years who were not included in the study. The senior physician rechecked the examination results of each resident doctor and conducted reliability tests for each resident doctor and among resident doctors. The procedure was repeated until the intra-examiner kappa values and inter-examiner kappa values of the three resident doctors were >0.85. A Community Periodontal Index (CPI) probe (Kangqiao Company, China) and a plane mirror (Kangqiao Company, China) with an Light Emitting Diode (LED) light (Vogel Shanghai Technology Co., LTD, China) were used. Dental caries was diagnosed at the cavitation level and verified by the ball-end CPI probe.
In the formal examination, after all the teeth were examined according to WHO standards and the checklists were completed, 5% of the participants were randomly selected for repeated examination to compare the reliability between the examiners. The inter-examiner kappa values were 0.89 (examiner 1 to examiner 2), 0.88 (examiner 2 to examiner 3), and 0.86(examiner 3 to examiner 1).
Plaque index (PLI) determination: The modified Silness-Loe plaque index (22 (link)) was used to examine the labial surfaces of four maxillary incisors (the plaque of permanent teeth with eruption was recorded; if permanent teeth did not erupt, the plaque of primary teeth was recorded). The average plaque index of four incisors labial surfaces of the participant was used as the plaque index score of the participant (23 (link)).
Paraffin-stimulated whole saliva was collected over 5 min and salivary secretion rate was determined.
The caries risk in both groups was assessed according to the CAT proposed by the AAPD.
In the formal examination, after all the teeth were examined according to WHO standards and the checklists were completed, 5% of the participants were randomly selected for repeated examination to compare the reliability between the examiners. The inter-examiner kappa values were 0.89 (examiner 1 to examiner 2), 0.88 (examiner 2 to examiner 3), and 0.86(examiner 3 to examiner 1).
Plaque index (PLI) determination: The modified Silness-Loe plaque index (22 (link)) was used to examine the labial surfaces of four maxillary incisors (the plaque of permanent teeth with eruption was recorded; if permanent teeth did not erupt, the plaque of primary teeth was recorded). The average plaque index of four incisors labial surfaces of the participant was used as the plaque index score of the participant (23 (link)).
Paraffin-stimulated whole saliva was collected over 5 min and salivary secretion rate was determined.
The caries risk in both groups was assessed according to the CAT proposed by the AAPD.
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