Dental Assessment
Use when asked to administer, score, or explain a Dental Assessment — oral health evaluation using the DMFT Index — grounded in FormExamples/form-examples.
Oral health evaluation using the DMFT (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth) Index with periodontal and radiographic assessment.
Scoring
Instrument: DMFT Index. Range 0–28 (permanent teeth).
- D — number of decayed teeth.
- M — number of missing teeth.
- F — number of filled teeth.
- Total DMFT — sum of D + M + F.
What it covers
Demographics; chief complaint; dental history; DMFT assessment; periodontal assessment; oral examination; medical history; current medications; and radiographic findings.
Common pitfalls
- Treating DMFT as a complete oral-health picture — it counts decay experience but doesn't capture periodontal disease severity, soft- tissue findings, or occlusion issues, which is why the assessment pairs it with a separate periodontal section.
- Missing medication-related oral effects — many medications cause dry mouth or gingival changes affecting caries and periodontal risk; skipping medication review can miss a modifiable contributing factor.
- Comparing DMFT scores across different age groups without context — DMFT accumulates over a lifetime, so raw comparisons across ages without normalization can be misleading.
Learn more
- FormExamples: dental-assessment for the full implementation, clinical references, and worked examples.