How Good are our Tools?

The chairside kits for assessing cariogenic bacteria play a significant role in early detection of caries and preventive measures. The ease of use, rapid results have attracted clinicians to chairside bacteria tests. It is non invasive and results can be shown to the parents/caregivers. Only a very few studies have been conducted to compare the efficacy of these kits. . The goal of this project was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of commercially available kits (the CRT bacteria Kit, Saliva-Check mutans, and CariScreen,) in distinguishing caries-active from caries-free individuals.

Methodology: 25 Patients in high carious risk group in an age group of 5-14 years were selected. Stimulated saliva was collected after giving paraffin tablets and plaque samples was collected from teeth surfaces with swab. All saliva samples were tested by the three methods CRT(R) bacteria kit, Saliva – check Mutans(TM) Kit, and MSB agar plate test (conventional method). All plaque swabs were tested with CariScreen testing meter.

Results: Diagnostic test was used to find the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of the chair side kits. The specificity of CariScreen and Caries Risk Test is 91.67, whereas it is 75 for Saliva -check mutans. The CariScreen gave the risk status of the patient in shortest time. However, all the chair side kits failed to show the exact colony count of bacteria.

Conclusion: The chair side cariogenic tests are efficient in early detection of caries and assists in planning preventive treatment. Both Cariscreen and Caries Risk Test are highly efficient in assessing the risk of patients. , The CariScreen is also easy to perform and gives the result in shorter time.