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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Preventive Dentistry
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2024.1458188

Evaluation of Caries Risk Assessment Practices Among Dental Practitioners in Guangzhou, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Ermin Nie Ermin Nie 1*Rui Jiang Rui Jiang 1*Rafiqul Islam Rafiqul Islam 2Xiang Li Xiang Li 1*Jiali Yu Jiali Yu 1*
  • 1 The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 Hokkaido Hospital, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate dental practitioners' knowledge and practices regarding Caries risk assessment (CRA) in routine clinical practice in Guangzhou, China. An online questionnaire was disseminated to dental practitioners to gather socio-demographic information, factors associated with CRA, the implementation of preventive treatment, and the level of awareness regarding personalized preventive treatment in relation to CRA. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, ANOVA, MANCOVA, linear regression, and scatter plots. Out of the 695 dental practitioners who were contacted, 206 dentists participated in the online survey. However, out of the total number of dentists, 198 were successfully recruited, while the remaining 8 dentists had incomplete data in their questionnaires. 92.4% of dentists provided in-office fluoride treatments, and 73.2% held a strong belief in the correlation between current oral hygiene and tooth cavities. 23.7% of dentists evaluated caries risk on an individual basis, and a significant 41.9% never utilized a particular type of CRA. 53.5% of dentists recommended non-prescription fluoride rinses, whereas 51% advocated prescription fluoride treatments. Significant statistical relationships were found between the use of in-office fluoride and the effectiveness of restorative treatment (P<0.05). Additionally, a significant association was discovered between the use of a specific form for CRA and the kind of dental school (P<0.05). The study suggests that a significant number of dental practitioners in Guangzhou, China, do not utilize dedicated assessment forms for CRA in their routine professional activities. These findings highlight the im-portance of encouraging dentists to utilize CRA systems to effectively identify patients who are at risk of acquiring dental caries.

    Keywords: Dental Caries, caries risk assessment, Caries Risk Factors, Caries prevention, Fluoride, Oral Health

    Received: 02 Jul 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nie, Jiang, Islam, Li and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ermin Nie, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong Province, China
    Rui Jiang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong Province, China
    Xiang Li, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong Province, China
    Jiali Yu, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.