Determination of Caries Risk by Your Fingertips – A Mobile Application Based Study

Abstract

Background: Technology has become a fundamental part of our daily life. It has been delivered to our fingertips since the first smartphone arrived in market. In this regard, Cariogram has been developed to bring caries prevention to the fingertips. This particular caries assessment method was selected for the study as it is considered one of the most reliable models as per reports. Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was carried out among 90 school going children in the age group of 7-10-years in North Bengaluru, Karnataka. A cariogram model was used to create caries risk profiles of 45-males and 45-females. The caries risk profiles generated by the cariogram software were observed amongst different genders and age groups. Results: The results obtained showed that children aged 10-years had comparatively less chance to avoid new caries as compared to age groups 7, 8, and 9 years. On comparison between male and female subjects, females had more chances of avoiding new caries as compared to males, even though they did not have a significant difference in their oral hygiene practices, dietary practices, and socioeconomic background. Conclusion: The Cariogram program is functional and has certain benefits such as providing recommendations for preventive care and motivating the patient with its presentation in the form of pie-chart, viewing the multifactorial caries risk assessment instead of single variables.