Application of caries assessment spectrum and treatment instrument for staging and evaluating treatment needs of an adult population - A hospital based cross-sectional study

Background: Application of caries assessment spectrum and treatment (CAST) instrument for staging and evaluating treatment needs of an adult population suffering from dental carious lesionObjectives: Study was conducted with aim of applying CAST instrument for staging adult urban Indian population according to severity of carious lesion and treatment needs required.Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 300 adult patients. After training session and calibration of examiner, all patients were examined for the caries experience and CAST codes were recorded on a structured proforma.Results: Of 300 adult patients, 18% (54) adults have healthy dentition denoted by codes 0,1, and 2. 12 % and 15.3% adults were in reversible premorbidity stage (code 3) and morbidity stage (codes 4 and 5) respectively. The largest number of adults 29.7% were seen in serious morbidity stage (codes 6 and 7) followed by 21.3% adults in mortality stage (code 8) requiring either root canal treatment or extraction and replacement of teeth as treatment needs.Conclusion: CAST instrument has been found useful in staging adult population suffering with dental carious lesion and evaluating their treatment needs. Moreover, CAST is easy to apply for staging the carious lesion due its hierarchical structure and reporting results in an understandable manner.Keywords: Adults; Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment; Dental Caries; Treatment needs.