Determinants of caries progression among children using the CAST index

Caries is considered a dynamic process of progression and regression. Among common indices the CAST index provides information on the early as well as advanced stages of caries. Purpose to evaluate the association between caries progression and its determinants in school children using the CAST index in Tehran, Iran. The present study was a longitudinal study on 7-8 years old school children from 2017 to 2019 in the capital city of Tehran, Iran. Across 19 districts according to the Ministry of Education map of Tehran a random sample was chosen. Clinical examination consists of dental caries was performed by a calibrated examiner according to CAST index (Kappa = 0.87) and the oral hygiene status according to the OHI-Simplified (OHI-S) index. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic information and parental oral health knowledge. Data was analyzed using the SPSS software (version 23.0). Five hundred ninety-one children and their parents participated in this study in 2017 and 52% (n= 306) were re-evaluated in the follow-up study. One hundred eighty children (60%) had sound first permanent molars in the baseline examination which 16.7 % remained unchanged after two years. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis showed that children who lived in non-affluent area had 2.88 times greater chance of having any caries progression in the 1st permanent molar teeth according to the cast index (95% CI 1.57-5.30, p