Radiographic criteria employed to diagnose and treat approximal caries by final-year dental students in Mexico City

Abstract

A total of 407 final-year dental students in Mexico City were asked about the radiographic criteria they employed when assessing treatment needs for caries in a standardized patient case. 45.2% of participants would restore lesions confined to enamel; 60.7% believed that a lesion which had not passed the dentino-enamel junction would cavitate; and 65.4% said it would take on average 6 months or less for a lesion to progress from outer enamel to the dentino-enamel junction. Radiographic criteria appeared to reflect fears of rapid, inevitable progression of lesions. While local caries experiences had been reported to be high, there seems to be room for re-evaluating some clinical criteria employed to manage caries. © Munksgaard, 1997.