DMF Index (Decayed-Missing-Filled)
Quantifies cumulative caries experience in permanent dentition to assess oral health status and treatment needs
- Highest activation tier
- Recommended
- How it is scored
- Scored in code; a stated value is compared only from the structured summary or a supplied value
- Scoring type
- point sum
- Care settings
- Outpatient
When it activates
Scribeable activates a calculator from the encounter. The DMF Index (Decayed-Missing-Filled) can activate when the transcript or pasted chart context documents any of these:
- Dental caries assessment
- Oral health status evaluation
- Caries risk classification
- Dental treatment planning
- Community oral health survey
A coded diagnosis can also activate it. ICD-10 prefixes carried by the registry: K02.
Note-type scope: it activates on notes whose subject resolves to dental. A note that resolves to another subject does not carry it even when the clinician's specialty matches; a note with no resolvable subject (a generic consultation) falls back to the specialty match.
Inputs the note needs
3 inputs. Each is resolved from the transcript, the pasted chart context and charted labs; at this calculator’s tier a missing input is never requested, and a missing required input keeps the score out of the draft.
| Input | Type | Unit / options | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of decayed (untreated carious) teeth | exam | ||
| Number of teeth missing due to caries | exam | ||
| Number of teeth with restorations due to caries | exam |
Scoring
DMF = Decayed + Missing (due to caries) + Filled. Range 0-28 (excluding third molars) or 0-32 (including). DMFT for tooth-level, DMFS for surface-level counting (max 128/148 surfaces).
Interpretation
DMFT 0-5: Low caries experience — preventive care, fluoride, sealants. DMFT 6-10: Moderate — targeted prevention + restorative care. DMFT >10: High caries experience — comprehensive treatment plan, high-risk caries protocol (prescription fluoride, chlorhexidine, dietary counseling, frequent recall). D component indicates active disease (urgent treatment). M component indicates past disease burden. F component indicates prior treatment. High D:F ratio suggests inadequate access to care.
Evidence
Sources carried in Scribeable's citation registry for this calculator; guideline version: Klein 1938.
- Klein H et al. Studies on dental caries: I. Dental status and dental needs of elementary school children (DMF Index)Klein et al. (DMF Index) 1938 · 1938 · link last verified 2026-03-28
How Scribeable handles it in the note
When an encounter activates the DMF Index (Decayed-Missing-Filled) (its highest tier is recommended), Scribeable does not ask you for missing inputs. The score is computed in code from whatever inputs resolve from the transcript, the pasted chart context or charted labs; a computed value is written into the draft only when every required input already resolves.
The score is computed in code from the resolved inputs, not recalled by the language model. A stated DMF Index (Decayed-Missing-Filled) value is compared against the computed one when the draft's structured summary carries it; a disagreement found there is flagged to the second drafting pass, which is instructed to correct the score and its interpretation, unless Scribeable has supplied the computed value to that pass, in which case the value the draft writes is checked against the supplied one and a detected difference is shown beside the note for you to adjudicate rather than silently rewritten.
Classified as a risk score: activated strictly, by a documented trigger, never by a permissive reading of the encounter.
See it activate on your own encounter
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