Oral Health | Clinical and Risk Asessment | Assessment of disease levels and factors that will impact on caries status

Assessment of disease levels and factors that will impact on caries status
Session overview
Description
This session will cover the practical, chair-side assessment of caries risk. It will also outline the social, oral and medical factors which affect caries risk.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• identify the key elements of clinical caries risk assessment
• describe the role of social factors that influence the development of caries
• describe the role of medical factors that influence the development of caries
• describe the role of oral factors that influence the development of caries
• identify the social, medical and oral factors that are contributing to active caries in an individual patient

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should:

• have a basic knowledge of the histopathological processes involved in the development of enamel and dentine caries
• have a basic knowledge of the interpretation of bitewing radiographs in caries diagnosis

This session provides an introduction to the general factors (social and medical) and local factors (oral) that influence the development of caries.

Dental caries is widely regarded as one of the most common diseases in the world.

It is a completely preventable disease of the mineralised dental hard tissues. It is caused by the interaction, over time, between tooth enamel/dentine and acid producing bacteria that reside in the plaque bio-film.