Comparative evaluation of predictive value of three caries activity tests-snyder, lactobacillus count and cariostat in mixed dentition children with and without caries

INTRODUCTION: Dental caries is a disease with multifactorial etiology. Early detection and preventive measures are essential for caries control. Caries activity tests are one of the methods of early detection, but all these are based on microbiological study. AIMS: Compare the sensitivity and specificity of Snyder test (ST), lactobacillus count (LBC) and Cariostat in mixed dentition children with and without caries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 90 healthy mixed dentition children (79 boys and 11 girls) were selected and were divided into two groups, one with Decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) 0 and another group with DMFT 3-5. The salivary samples were collected for ST and LBC and plaque samples were collected for Cariostat. Caries activity was assessed. RESULTS: The data obtained were analyzed for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and over all accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Our present study showed that the LBC was found to have a higher correlation in caries as the caries increased the count also increased with positive caries activity. A good correlation was found between Snyder and LBC for the caries activity 1, 2 and 3. But no correlation was seen for score 0. To conclude, a combination of all these tests was found to be good for assessing caries risk groups.