Results after 1 year of non-operative occlusal caries treatment of erupting permanent first molars.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a treatment program designed to control occlusal caries on the basis of intensive patient education and professional toothcleaning. The sample consisted of 56 6-8-yr-old children with their permanent right first molars in different stages of eruption. Data from the program were compared with previous data recorded in a similar sample of children. After 1 yr the majority of children in the study group had their permanent right first molars in full occlusion. A significant decrease of surfaces with easily detectable plaque and an increase of surfaces without plaque was observed. The proportion of arrested lesions increased and active enamel lesions decreased. Fissure sealing was only needed in two teeth in contrast to more than 2/3 of molars in a comparable sample of children. The program proved to be an efficient alternative to fissure sealing in preventing occlusal caries in erupting teeth

Adhesion concepts in dentistry: tooth and material aspects

Adhesion concepts require understanding of substrate material properties, surface conditioning methods and chemical interactions, formation of interfaces/interphases between different material combinations, changes at interfaces with time, failure mechanisms and failure modes of the interfaces as a consequence of aging phenomenon. In dentistry, different methods are being used to test adhesion of resin-based materials to various biological and artificial substrates that require individual conditioning protocols. Variations among specimen configurations, material properties and chemical compositions of adhesives, test methods and test conditions all have effect on adhesion of similar or dissimilar substrates. Selection of the test, its proper execution, as well as the interpretation of the data through chemistry of the materials involved is of importance. Although adhesion to enamel is not a major concern today, effective adhesion to dentin requires several steps where failure in any of these consecutive events might result in failure of the whole system after long-term clinical use. Test methodologies used for assessment of mechanical behavior of materials in engineering may not directly apply to tooth–material combinations in dentistry. The objective of this review on adhesion in dentistry is to summarize current materials and methods used in dental materials testing and to summarize the current state-of-the-art in adhesion durability and quality with respect to the material type