Abstract

CARIES RISK ASSESSMENT- A REVIEW PAPER

Teena Cherian*, Rekha P. Shenoy, Praveen S. Jodalli, Dr. Laxminarayan Sonde and Imran Pasha M.

ABSTRACT

For decades, researchers have been looking for the factors that would enable them to predict who would develop a carious lesion before damage occurred. Many variables have been investigated for their association with the carious process. Even though publications exist that offer guidelines for determining a patient‘s risk, these guidelines are far from definitive and most authors are quick to note that there is much work to be done in the area of risk assessment. The purpose of this review paper is to familiarize the reader with the current issues and research methods involved in caries risk assessment. A Caries Risk Assessment (CRA) should be done to find the causes behind a patient`s caries problem and stop progression of existing caries lesions, to prevent development of new caries lesions and to get a more correct treatment plan for the individual patient. The earlier one can prevent caries development in the individual patient, the more effective it is. A risk assessment is also done in order to make the patient understand why he/ she gets caries lesions and how to prevent the caries disease before there is an irreversible damage of tooth substance. Country/area/family can be characterised by frequent intakes of cariogenic food, high Streptococcus mutans load, less good oral hygiene and low fluoride in drinking waters. High past caries experience indicates that the individual is susceptible and/or might have been under cariogenic challenge-the same factors that caused the past disease may still be in operation.

Keywords: Caries risk assessment, Streptococcus mutans.