Monitoring of Root Caries Lesions

The early detection of root caries is essential for the implementation of appropriate preventive therapeutic regimes. Subsequent monitoring of lesions is required to determine the outcomes of such therapies. While much research activity has been seen in the detection and monitoring of enamel caries, this has not been seen in root caries - despite the possibilities for shorter clinical trials due to the more rapid remineralization and arrest of such lesions. The main stay of both clinical practice and research has been the use of visual tactile criteria including, hardness, texture, the presence or absence of cavitation, and color. A range of clinical trials, using high fluoride products of known efficacy, have shown such techniques to be valid. The use of adjunct technologies has been limited in large scale in vivo studies, to devices using electrical resistance measurement (electronic caries monitor, ECM). The use of dyes, laser fluorescence, and advanced imaging such as near infra-red has been described in vitro but few, with the exception of DiagnoDent, have been translated to chair side. Except for ECM, no other technology has been used in the clinical assessments of root caries remineralization and there remains a need to supplement visual tactile techniques for future work.