Dental Caries: The Disease and Its Clinical Management

A comprehensive, multi-chapter text focusing on dental caries as a global public health issue and its clinical management. It explores the etiology of dental caries, emphasizing the role of dietary sugars and the oral microbiome, while also discussing broader social and commercial determinants of health that influence disease prevalence. A significant portion of the text addresses diagnostic methods, contrasting the "essentialistic" search for truth with a "nominalistic" approach geared toward management options, particularly using visual-tactile examinations and classifying lesions as active or arrested. Finally, the material scrutinizes preventive and therapeutic interventions, covering the topical and systemic effects of fluoride...