CROSS-SECTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF ASSOCIATION BETWEEN GRADE OF AS-THI SARATA AND INCIDENCE OF DENTAL CARIES
Dashavidha Karanadi Pariksha (Ten-fold examination) elaborated in Charaka Samhita imparts complete knowledge of patient’s condition by means of specific investigations. It is done for knowledge of lifespan, degree of strength of body and disease and exact treatment perspective. Accordingly, a patient should be examined in respect of Dhatu Sarata (excellence of body tissues) i.e. as per the best qualities of Dhatu (body tissues). Drudh Danta (strongness of teeth) has been described as a characteristic of Asthi Sarata. Thus, an observational cross-sectional study was planned to assess the probable association between grada-tion of Asthi Sarata (excellence of Asthi Dhatu-bone tissue) as Uttama (excellent) -Madhyama (moderate)-Heena (poor) and incidence of dental caries. Total 200 volunteers were assessed for their grade of Asthi sarata (excellence of Asthi Dhatu-bone tissue) with the help of a questionnaire related to general descrip-tion of Asthi Sara Purusha (person with excellence of bone tissue) as per Charaka Samhita. Dental inspec-tion of each participant was done to check for presence and absence of dental caries. The association be-tween Sarata grade of each individual and incidence of dental caries was established by statistical analysis. Statistical tests showed that Asthi – Sarata (excellence of Asthi Dhatu-bone tissue) and occurrence of den-tal caries were dependent of each other.