A New Approach to Medical Treatment"

Dental caries is a highly prevalent disease, although, in most developed countries, its prevalence has declined, but the disease remains a major public health problem (Selwitz et al., 2007). Signs of the caries process cover a continuum from the first molecular changes in the apatite crystals of the tooth to a visible white-spot lesion, continuing with dentin involvement and eventual cavitation. Progression through these stages requires a continual imbalance between pathological and protective factors that results in the dissolution of apatite crystals and the loss of calcium, phosphate, and other ions from the tooth (demineralization).