Partial caries removal in primary teeth: association of clinical parameters with microbiological status

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

Dentine that is wet after mild drying, but not colour or consistency, would appear to be the only criterion for de novo caries removal.

Main

Lula ECO, Almeida Jr LJS et al. Caries Res 2011; 45: 275–280

The enamel of 16 primary teeth with deep caries was penetrated using an high speed drill and then superficial caries only was removed. Samples of carious dentine were taken from the pulpal floor for microbial culture. When the carious dentine demonstrated humidity (wet after mild drying of the cavity for 3 seconds), significantly higher numbers of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobaccillus spp. were recovered. The investigators found no association between the colour or consistency of carious dentine, and the numbers of these caries-associated micro-organisms. After re-entry (stepwise excavation), fewer S. mutans and Lactobaccillus spp. were recovered but there were no associations with clinical criteria. The Hall Technique was not discussed.