title: Assessing patients' caries risk.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Caries management historically has focused on the removal of cavitated carious tissue and restoration of the tooth.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Assessing a patient's risk of developing caries is a vital component of caries management. A comprehensive caries assessment should consider factors such as past and current caries experience, diet, fluoride exposure, presence of cariogenic bacteria, salivary status, general medical history, behavioral and physical factors, and medical and demographic characteristics that may affect caries development. A caries risk assessment also should consider factors that may challenge the patient's ability to maintain good oral hygiene (for example, crowded dentition, deep fissures, wide open restorative margins or placement of oral appliances).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  and Practical Implications. The authors review the importance of caries risk assessment as a prerequisite for appropriate preventive and treatment intervention decisions and provide some practical information on how general practitioners can incorporate caries risk assessment into the management of caries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, 46202-2876, USA.
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: Domenick T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Zero
mesh_terms: D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000150:complications; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005459:Fluorides