Managing Carious Lesions: Why Do We Need Consensus on Terminology and Clinical Recommendations on Carious Tissue Removal?

Abstract

Although the prevalence of dental caries has decreased in many countries over the last 3 decades, it remains one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, burdening billions of people (Marcenes et al. 2013) and generating significant global health care costs (Listl et al. 2015). How to manage carious lesions best is therefore a central concept in oral health care. The management should be guided by evidence-based recommendations, with patients at the center, founded on agreement among professionals, thereby easing clinical decision making. While the number of studies to support guidance is growing (Ricketts et al. 2013), there is disagreement around how to interpret the existing data. One of the underlying reasons for this disagreement is the use of different terms for describing more or less the same management strategies. There also continues to be a gap between research findings and clinical practice. The reasons for this are complex, but contributing factors are inconsistencies in clinical guidelines, dental education, national health care policies, and remuneration systems. To tackle these issues and provide a stepping-stone from which to improve the management of carious lesions, the International Caries Consensus Collaboration (ICCC) compiled expert consensus on terminology and recommendations for dealing with carious tooth tissue removal and managing cavitated carious lesions. The ICCC comprised 21 experts in cariology from 12 countries covering North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and Australasia. 639272 ADRXXX10.1177/0022034516639272Advances in Dental ResearchConsensus on Caries Terminology and Carious Tissue Removal research-article2016