MICAP Tooth Notation

Background: Universal system, Palmer notation and FDI system are used to record dental problems which give different numbers to the same tooth. For example, the central incisor is #8 (Universal system) and #11 (FDI system). Thus, they create confusion in transferring dental information to represent the maxillary and mandibular teeth, the letters I-incisor, C-canine, P-premolar, M-molar, and the numerals 1, 2, 3 are displayed as superscript and subscript on the corresponding letters (I, C, P, M) making up a new tooth notation called MICAP.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to assess the learning of the format of the MICAP system by students of undergraduate dental degree and dental allied health programs using a mock MICAP dental chart.

Materials and Methods: A mock MICAP dental chart was created. After an hour lecture and video demonstration about the MICAP format, students of undergraduate dental degree [group A (n=39)] and dental allied health program [group B (n=39)] who were further subdivided based on age such as [group 1=15-25 years, group 2=26-35 years, group 3=36-45 years], translated four MICAP symbols and vice versa in a cross-sectional study. To analyze the data, a one-way ANOVA and an independent t-test were used.

Results: Group A outperformed Group B [mean difference 95% CI: -0.128 (-0.285, 0.028) p=0.001] in translation of #1C (maxillary right canine). In terms of age, group 1 performed better in MICAP format translation (p<0.001) than the other groups. More than half of the participants agreed that the MICAP notation system was simple to grasp.

Conclusion: The new notation format is simple to grasp. A new method for identifying teeth has been developed.