Overview
Dental caries, or cavities, is a chronic infectious disease experienced by more than 90 percent of adults in the United States. Recent changes in the epidemiology of dental caries have altered the presentation of the disease so that among children age 5 to 17 years, about 75 percent of the disease is now experienced in 25 percent of the population. Also, as understanding of the disease process has matured, the range of management strategies for dental caries has broadened.
Interventions to arrest or reverse the demineralization process that characterizes the development of a carious lesion are available, and several strategies for identifying those persons representing the quarter of the population who will experience an elevated incidence of dental caries have been reported.