Caries Risk Assessment Instrument for Young Adults

说明(申请人提供)：尽管在降低龋齿患病率方面取得了显着进展，但它仍然是最普遍的牙病。最新的全国性调查NHANES III的结果表明，到17岁时，近78%的美国居民患有龋齿。在18岁及以上的人中，这一数字增加到约85%，此外，75岁以上的人中有50%的人根面龋齿至少涉及一颗牙齿。这些数据还表明，18-25岁的年轻人平均有近14个牙齿表面腐烂、缺失或填满，而36-45岁的人这一数字增加到41个。此外，这些数字不受种族、收入水平或教育水平的显著影响。虽然后面这些龋齿患病率的数字略低于以前的调查，但很明显，需要采取更有效的措施来预防和控制这一疾病。查明有严重龋齿风险的年轻人将有助于实施预防和控制龋齿的专业和家庭使用措施。因此，这项调查的总体目标是为年轻人开发一种能够准确确定龋病风险的龋病风险评估工具。这个项目的具体目标是：(1)根据该小组在识别有重大医疗风险的人方面的现有知识和以前的经验，开发一种调查工具；(2)收集初步数据，通过使用已知能够检测到龋齿的两种新技术(定量光荧光和ICDAS)对18-25岁的年轻人进行临床龋齿检查，来验证龋齿风险评估工具；(3)在6个月的测试期内逐步递增；以及(3)利用龋齿数据来评估龋齿风险评估工具的每个组成部分在确定显著龋齿风险方面的价值。今后将进行大规模调查，以验证该文书的优点。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In spite of the remarkable progress that has been made in the reduction of the prevalence of dental caries it continues to be the most prevalent dental disease. The results of the most recent national survey, NHANES III, indicated that by age 17 nearly 78% of U.S. residents are afflicted with dental caries. This number increase to about 85% in persons 18 years of age and older and, in addition, 50% of persons beyond 75 years of age have root surface caries involving at least one tooth. These data also indicate that young adults 18-25 years of age had an average of nearly 14 decayed, missing or filled tooth surface and that this number increases to 41 in persons 36-45 years of age. Further these numbers are not appreciably influenced by race, income level, or level of education. Although these latter numbers for caries prevalence are somewhat less than was observed in prior surveys it is quite apparent that more effective measures for the prevention and control of this disease are needed. The identification of young adults at significant risk for dental caries would permit the implementation of professional and home-use measures for the prevention and control of dental caries. Thus, the overall goal of this investigation is to develop a caries risk assessment instrument for young adults that accurately determine caries risk. The Specific Aims of this project are: (1) develop a survey instrument based upon existing knowledge and the prior experience of the team in identifying persons with significant medical risks; (2) collect preliminary data to validate the caries risk assessment instrument by conducting clinical caries examinations in young adults 18-25 years of age using two new technologies (Quantitative Light Fluorescence and ICDAS) known to be capable of detecting caries; increments within a 6- month test period; and (3) use the caries data to evaluate each component of the caries risk assessment instrument for their value in identifying persons with significant caries risk. Future large-scale investigations will be undertaken to validate the merits of the instrument.