ROOT CARIES – PERSPECTIVES AND ADVANCES IN TREATMENT PROTOCOLS

Root caries is a socially significant disease whose prevalence is gradually increasing due to the aging population, acombined with the retention of more natural teeth into later stages of life. As carious lesions progress to sizes requiring operative treatment, dental professionals face different challenges compared to those encountered when treating crown lesions.

In recent years, various new materials with improved physico-mechanical properties and adhesion to hard dental tissues have been introduced into clinical practice. However, bonding to dentin remains problematic, as evidenced by the high incidence of secondary caries in root lesion treatments. A reassessment of criteria for selecting appropriate treatment methods and indications for using different groups of aesthetic materials in root caries treatment is necessary.

This lecture will analyse and present modern protocols for both operative and non-operative treatment of root caries.