engleski

Croatian dentists restorative treatment decisions on occlusal and approximal caries

Little is known about caries diagnostic thresholds and restorative treatment strategies among Croatian dentists and this study aimed to identify differences in their diagnostic criteria and restorative treatment. The questionnaire of Espelid et al., translated into Croatian, was distributed to a random sample (n=800) of Croatian dentists working in public dental health services and private practices. Responses were collected from 307 (38.4%) dentists. Treatment thresholds for hypothetical approximal and occlusal caries, as well as most favoured types of restorative techniques and materials were assessed. 39% of the respondents would intervene for an approximal carious lesion at the dentin-enamel junction, but the majority (43%) would treat a carious lesion confined to the enamel. For occlusal carious lesion, 69% of dentists would wait until the lesion was in the outer third of dentin for operative treatment and the preferred type of preparation for 78% was preparation limited to the carious lesion. Croatian dentists tend to restore the approximal carious lesions at an early stage, when the lesion is confined to enamel and can still be remineralized.

caries; threshold; remineralization

DOI:10.1159/000213889