{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,18]],"date-time":"2026-07-18T23:32:17Z","timestamp":1784417537156,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,25]],"date-time":"2024-09-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727222400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The prevalence of dental caries presents a global public challenge, particularly in children. Traditional caries risk assessment tools like Cariogram are effective but often complex and resource intensive. The aim of the present study was to introduce, for the first time, a newly designed caries risk assessment (CRA) tool named Index of Caries Risk (ICR) and to evaluate its efficacy for pediatric patients. Methods: This observational study was conducted at the University Hospital of Siena (Italy), involving 55 children aged 6 to 12 years. Participants were assessed using both the newly developed ICR and the well-known Cariogram tool. The data were collected by two calibrated operators. The ICR was compared with the Cariogram tool, and a descriptive analysis and a Pearson correlation coefficient were performed. Results: Results indicated a strong positive correlation (R = 0.88, p &lt; 0.01) between the two methods, with ICR simplifying the assessment process while maintaining efficacy. Conclusions: This study highlights the ICR\u2019s potential to provide a practical, cost-effective alternative for routine caries risk assessment in pediatric dentistry. Despite its limitations, this research marks a preliminary investigation of a promising new CRA tool. Further research should focus on validating the ICR in the larger and more diverse pediatric population, as well as exploring its long-term effectiveness and its application in different clinical settings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children11101166","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,25]],"date-time":"2024-09-25T16:16:37Z","timestamp":1727280997000},"page":"1166","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Introducing the Index of Caries Risk (ICR): A Comparative Study on a Novel Tool for Caries Risk Assessment in Pediatric Patients"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Patrizia","family":"Lucchi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences\u2014Dentistry Section, Padova University, 35128 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alice Dina","family":"Nasuti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Franciosi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlo","family":"Gaeta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simone","family":"Grandini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4960-3534","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco Saverio","family":"Ludovichetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences\u2014Dentistry Section, Padova University, 35128 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3781-2902","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sergio","family":"Mazzoleni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences\u2014Dentistry Section, Padova University, 35128 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5968-6471","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giulia","family":"Malvicini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"930","DOI":"10.5114\/aoms\/165962","article-title":"Burden of oral disorders, 1990\u20132019: Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019","volume":"19","author":"Tu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Arch. 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