Decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth — total caries experience
Decayed permanent teeth (D)
Missing due to caries (M)
Filled permanent teeth (F)
Enter the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth
Evidence
Original publication
Klein H, Palmer CE, Knutson JW. Studies on dental caries: I. Dental status and dental needs of elementary school children. Introduced the DMF (decayed, missing, filled) index for permanent teeth — the count of teeth that are decayed, missing due to caries, or restored. Reported for permanent teeth (DMFT) or surfaces (DMFS).
Public Health Reports, 1938
Validation
Broadbent JM, Thomson WM. For debate: problems with the DMF index pertinent to dental caries data analysis. Discusses the limitations of DMF — it does not distinguish disease from treatment history and cannot decrease over time.
Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 2005
Open source
Guideline
World Health Organization. Oral Health Surveys: Basic Methods, 5th edition (2013). Standard field method for recording DMFT/DMFS in population surveys; the decayed component represents unmet restorative need.
Last reviewed: 2026-09
Report an error in this calculator
MedScore is an educational and clinical decision-support tool. It does not provide a diagnosis, a treatment, or a drug-dosing recommendation, and it does not replace clinical judgement or local guidelines. Confirm every result against the original source before acting on it. The treating clinician remains responsible for all decisions.