Selected Restoration and Tooth Conditions : United States, 1988-1991

The DMF index provides one source of information on past and present dental caries experience; however, important limitations hinder its ability to characterize fully the impact of dental caries. The purpose of this paper is to describe a measure of selected restoration and tooth conditions that supplements information from the DMF index and to report on the application of this measure as part of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Phase 1, conducted between 1988 and 1991. Data from this survey were used to estimate the prevalence and severity of selected disaggregated physical and biological oral conditions among dentate adults aged 18 to 74 years. Trained, standardized, and calibrated dentist examiners assessed 28 permanent teeth or tooth spaces for each of 6,767 subjects. Teeth or tooth spaces were classified based on criteria for: defective intracoronal restorations, crowns, or bridges; gross loss of tooth structure associated with a restoration; pulpal involvement; or retained...