Selections From the Current Literature

Abstract

There is consensus that clinical evidence supports minimally invasive caries removal during cavity preparation. 1 Schwendicke F. Frencken J.E. Bjørndal L. et al. Managing carious lesions: consensus recommendations on carious tissue removal. Adv Dent Res. 2016; 28: 58-67 Crossref PubMed Scopus (375) Google Scholar Nascimento and colleagues noted that this is a “paradigm shift from away from the traditional and long-standing restorative approach of removing all carious tissues until hard and perhaps unstained dentin is reached in all structures of cavity preparations.” The authors also noted that there is widespread variation among dentists regarding the management of dental caries, skepticism about partial caries removal, and an inherent subjectivity of caries removal during clinical licensure examinations that may encourage excessive dentin removal during cavity preparation. The aim of this study was to investigate the preclinical and clinical teaching of carious tissue management during cavity preparation in US dental schools and to determine whether there was an association between teaching various methods of caries removal and US dental licensure examinations. Dr. Pihlstrom is a professor emeritus, Department of Surgical and Developmental Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. He also is the associate editor, Research, for The Journal of the American Dental Association, as well as an independent oral health research consultant.