Influence of 2 caries-detecting devices on clinical decision making and lesion depth for suspicious occlusal lesions: A randomized trial from The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network.

Background: A suspicious occlusal carious lesion (SOCL) can be defined as a lesion with no cavitation and no radiographic radiolucency but for which caries is suspected. The authors evaluated whether using a device changed the percentage of SOCLs that were opened surgically and, among those SOCLs that were opened, the proportion that had penetrated into dentin.

Methods: Eighty-two dentists participated.

Dentists' decision strategies for suspicious occlusal caries lesions in a National Dental PBRN study.

Objective: Case presentations (vignettes) were completed by dentists in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network study "Decision Aids for the Management of Suspicious Occlusal Caries Lesions (SOCLs)". The objective was to determine dentists' decision strategies for SOCLs.

Methods: 107 dentists viewed a series of 16 vignettes that represented all combinations of 4 clinical cues: color, luster, lesion roughness, and patient-level caries risk.

Surface characteristics and lesion depth and activity of suspicious occlusal carious lesions: Findings from The National Dental Practice-Based Research Network.

Background: A lesion on an occlusal tooth surface with no cavitation and no radiographic radiolucency but in which caries is suspected owing to surface roughness, opacities, or staining can be defined as a suspicious occlusal carious lesion (SOCL). The authors' objective was to quantify the characteristics of SOCLs and their relationship to lesion depth and activity after these lesions were opened surgically.

Methods: Ninety-three dentists participated in the study.

A Predictive Model for Root Caries Incidence.

This study aimed to find the set of risk indicators best able to predict root caries (RC) incidence in caries-active adults utilizing data from the Xylitol for Adult Caries Trial (X-ACT). Five logistic regression models were compared with respect to their predictive performance for incident RC using data from placebo-control participants with exposed root surfaces at baseline and from two study centers with ancillary data collection (n = 155). Prediction performance was assessed from baseline variables and after including ancillary variables [smoking, diet, use of removable partial dentures (RPD), toothbrush use, income, education, and dental insurance].

The dynamic behavior of the early dental caries lesion in caries-active adults and implications.

Objective: To describe the full range of behavior of the visible, noncavitated, early caries lesion in caries-active adults with substantial fluoride exposure, and to consider implications.

Methods: The data were from the Xylitol for Adult Caries Trial (X-ACT) collected annually for 33 months using condensed ICDAS caries threshold criteria. Individual tooth surfaces having a noncavitated caries lesion were included, and the patterns of transition to each subsequent annual clinical examination to sound, noncavitated or cavitated, filled or crowned were determined.