Caries management by risk assessment: A review on current strategies for caries prevention and management

The current trend in treating dental caries is using nondestructive risk-based caries management strategies rather than focusing on the restorative treatment alone. Currently, there have been many changes in understanding of the multifaceted nature of caries process and its management. Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) which is an evidence-based approach focuses on determining many factors causing the expression of disease and take corrective action. The clinicians can ascertain what behaviors are increasing a patients risk for disease and disease progression by evaluating the current caries risk of a patient. With this modern CAMBRA protocol, a novel treatment plan can be designed to arrest dental caries thereby decreasing the chance of cavitation. After the recognition of the multi factorial nature of caries involving the biofilm, the contemporary approaches focused mainly on the various options to cope with the locally out-of-balance oral biofilm and stop the progression of the disease. The initial caries lesions can be diagnosed with modern diagnostic aids and with the help of CAMBRA, reestablishment of the integrity of the tooth surface early on in the caries process will bring great rewards for patients. This review focuses on the repair of hard tooth tissues using noninvasive strategies.