This historical treatise follows the documented timeline of tooth decay into today's understanding, treatment, and teaching of caries biology. Caries has been attributed to many different causes for several millennia, however, only since the late 1900s has research revealed its complex multifactorial nature. European writers of the 1600s to 1700s held views that general health, mechanical injur...

This study investigated the influence of a papain-based gel (Papacárie) for chemo-mechanical caries removal on bond strength to dentin. Human molars were assigned to the following groups: Group 1: sound teeth were flattened to expose dentin; Group 2: after flattening of surfaces, the papain-based gel was applied on the sound dentin; Group 3: overlying enamel from carious teeth was removed and m...

It has been suggested that laser fluorescence close to the dental pulp shows higher values than more distant measurements. The aim of this study was to assess fluorescence on the cavity floor and to correlate these measurements with electrical resistance as a measure of residual dentine thickness. Thirty carious lesions were excavated with a bur. The endpoint of caries removal was determined by...

BACKGROUND Since the invention and application of rotating instruments, the operative treatment of carious lesions has often resulted in considerable removal of tooth structure. Moreover, conventional caries removal and cavity preparation by a combination of the use of a turbine and a handpiece with a bur presents disadvantages to very young patients, whose perception of drilling is unpleasant....

The relationship between clinical characteristics of carious dentin and bacterial colonization after partial caries removal is not completely understood. The aim of this study was to compare microbial counts between categories of carious dentin color, consistency and humidity, and to evaluate the correlation between these characteristics and the presence of cariogenic microorganisms in deep cav...

Dental caries continues to be the most prevalent bacteria-mediated non-contagious disease of humankind. Dental professionals assert the disease can be explained by poor oral hygiene and a diet rich in sugars but this does not account for caries free individuals exposed to the same risk factors. In order to test the hypothesis that amount of amelogenin during enamel development can influence car...

Background: Biofilm plays an important role in the etiology of caries, and can be removed through chemical approach using mouthwash, which has some advantages over mechanical one. Nowadays, there are a lot mouthwashes with many active ingredients that have been developed. Aim: To review mouthwashes’ efficacy preventing dental caries.Discussion: As recent studies showed Streptococcus mutans can’...

Background: Aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of chemomechanical caries removal (CMCR) (Papacarie) with that of conventional excavation in reducing the count of the cariogenic flora checked on blood agar plates. Materials and Methods: A total of 40 molar teeth (n = 40) were divided into two groups of 20 teeth each. In the first group, caries was removed using Papacarie gel and in se...