Modern Approach to Pediatric Dental Caries Prevention and Treatment - Abstract
Dental caries has been the most common disease in childhood. The World Health
Organization (WHO) emphasizes that dental caries affects about 60 to 90% of
schoolchildren and the majority of adults. The patterns of dental caries globally
and regionally reflect the risk profiles of countries relate to social structure, living
conditions, and existence of preventive oral health systems. However, dental caries
is a preventable disease and can be potentially reversed in its early stages. The
importance of primary prevention has been emphasized in young children. The use of fluoride to increase resistance of teeth to caries development has been widely used. Mechanisms of fluoride are both topical and systemic, but the topical effect is the most important over the life span. A great amount of time had been dedicated to the studies of enamel Remineralization. The modern approach has been suggested that “non-invasive treatment of early caries lesion by Remineralization has the potential to be the major advance in the clinical management of the disease”. The introduction of nanotechnology in dentistry allowed developing materials ranging in the size 100 nanometers or smaller in at least one dimension. The use of nanotechnology simulated the natural biomineralization process to create the dental enamel. Hydroxyapatite is the principal inorganic constituent of bones and teeth. It is suggested that extensive research be performed to improve full capacity of nano-hydroxyapatite in a clinical setting, which has a great potential in providing preventive and therapeutic approach to dental caries for children worldwide.