Performance of Adhesives and Restorative Materials After Selective Removal of Carious Lesions: Restorative Materials with Anticaries Properties

Comparative Meta-Analysis of Minimally Invasive and Conventional Approaches for Caries Removal in Permanent Dentition

Background and Objectives: Addressing deep carious lesions poses significant challenges in daily dental practice due to the inherent complexity of their treatment. Traditionally, complete removal of carious tissues has been the norm, potentially leading to pulp tissue exposure and subsequent pulpitis. In contemporary dentistry, there is a growing preference for minimally invasive techniques, such as selective removal, offering a more conservative approach with enhanced predictability and success rates. Materials and Methods: Our study commenced with a comprehensive systematic review. After that, we performed a meta-analysis focused exclusively on randomized controlled trials involving permanent dentition. Our investigation incorporated seven selected articles, which scrutinized success rates and the incidence of pulp exposure in minimally invasive techniques (MIT) versus conventional techniques (CT). Statistical analysis employed U Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests to interpret the results. Results: Although the difference did not reach statistical significance, MIT demonstrated marginally superior success rates compared to CT. Furthermore, MIT exhibited a lower percentage of pulp exposure when contrasted with CT. However, due to the limited sample size, statistical significance for this difference could not be established. Conclusions: Minimally invasive techniques for caries removal emerge as a conservative and promising approach to safeguard pulp tissues in comparison to conventional techniques. The need for additional randomized controlled trials is emphasized to unequivocally establish the superior success rates of these procedures over their conventional counterparts.

TEGDMA-Functionalized Dicalcium Phosphate Dihydrate Resin-Based Composites Prevent Secondary Caries in an In Vitro Biofilm Model

This study evaluated the efficacy of experimental TEGDMA-functionalized dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (T-DCPD) filler-based resin-based composites (RBC) in preventing caries lesions around the restoration margins (secondary caries, SC). Standardized Class-II cavities were made in sound molars with the cervical margin in dentin. Cavities were filled with a commercial resin-modified glass-ionomer cement (RMGIC) or experimental RBCs containing a bisGMA-TEGDMA resin blend and one of the following inorganic fractions: 60 wt.% Ba glass (RBC-0); 40 wt.% Ba glass and 20 wt.% T-DCPD (RBC-20); or 20 wt.% Ba glass and 40 wt.% T-DCPD (RBC-40). An open-system bioreactor produced Streptococcus mutans biofilm-driven SC. Specimens were scanned using micro-CT to evaluate demineralization depths. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy characterized the specimen surfaces, and antimicrobial activity, buffering effect, and ion uptake by the biofilms were also evaluated. ANOVA and Tukey’s tests were applied at p < 0.05. RBC-0 and RBC-20 showed SC development in dentin, while RBC-40 and RMGIC significantly reduced the lesion depth at the restoration margin (p < 0.0001). Initial enamel demineralization could be observed only around the RBC-0 and RBC-20 restorations. Direct antibiofilm activity can explain SC reduction by RMGIC, whereas a buffering effect on the acidogenicity of biofilm can explain the behavior of RBC-40. Experimental RBC with CaP-releasing functionalized T-DCPD filler could prevent SC with the same efficacy as F-releasing materials.

Expert consensus on dental caries management

Dental Caries is a kind of chronic oral disease that greatly threaten human being's health. Though dentists and researchers struggled for decades to combat this oral disease, the incidence and prevalence of dental caries remain quite high. Therefore, improving the disease management is a key issue for the whole population and life cycle management of dental caries. So clinical difficulty assessment system of caries prevention and management is established based on dental caries diagnosis and classification. Dentists should perform oral examination and establish dental records at each visit. When treatment plan is made on the base of caries risk assessment and carious lesion activity, we need to work out patient‑centered and personalized treatment planning to regain oral microecological balance, to control caries progression and to restore the structure and function of the carious teeth. And the follow-up visits are made based on personalized caries management. This expert consensus mainly discusses caries risk assessment, caries treatment difficulty assessment and dental caries treatment plan, which are the most important parts of caries management in the whole life cycle.

Selective carious tissue removal and glass ionomer liner reduction of pulp stress in bulk fill resin composite restorations

To evaluate the effect of selective or nonselective carious tissue removal and the use of a resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGIC) liner under bulk fill resin composite restoration on the stress at the pulp chamber, the elastic moduli of hard, firm, soft and intact dentin were calculated using nanoindentation. Post-gel shrinkage of the bulk fill resin composite and RMGIC were determined using the strain-gauge method. Six finite element models were created by using digital radiography with the combination of two study factors: a) carious tissue removal: selective removal or nonselective removal of carious tissue, and b) use of RMGIC liner: with or without 1.0 mm of RMGIC liner. The modified von Mises stresses (mvm) (MPa) were extracted on the nodes of the internal wall of the pulp ceiling chamber at 100 N occlusal loading. Data were analyzed descriptively and recorded quantitively. Both study factors influenced the stress distribution. The mvm stress during the restorative procedure was higher for nonselective carious tissue removal without RMGIC (25.9 MPa) and lower for selective carious tissue removal associated with RMGIC (13.5 MPa). The dentin elastic modulus increased from soft carious (3.6 ± 0.3 MPa) to firm carious (5.2 ± 1.0 MPa) to hard carious (10.9 ± 1.2 MPa) to intact dentin (22.7 ± 3.0 MPa). Molars with carious lesions showed high mvm stress at the pulp ceiling (89.6 MPa) and at fragilized coronal structure remaining. Selective carious tissue removal followed by restoration using a Vitrebond liner and Tetric N-Ceram Bulk fill reduced the stress at the pulp chamber ceiling.