How Low Should You Go? Treatment of the Deep Caries Lesion

Course Description
What’s the best way to approach a large carious lesion? Can we avoid exposure of the pulp and endodontic therapy if the tooth is vital and asymptomatic? What will happen if we leave some soft dentin under a well-sealed restoration? What does the scientific evidence tell us?The “medical model” requires that dentists understand the caries disease process, and use that knowledge to treat affected teeth appropriately. In this course, Dr. Maggio provides a literature review as a framework for rethinking our approach to caries as a disease.Specific guidelines will be developed for treatment of very deep lesions, small carious lesions, and recurrent caries. Many clinical cases will be presented, to directly apply this information to the dentist’s daily routine.

Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

• See caries as a disease process and treat lesions using the “medical model”
• Understand the nature of soft dentin, and its ability to be remineralized
• Be able to choose between indirect pulp caps, “stepwise excavation”, and “ultraconservative caries removal”
• Know the indications for, and advantages of, glass ionomer materials, including the “open sandwich technique”
• Be familiar with “atraumatic” caries removal

The University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry in conjunction with the Association for Continuing Dental Education (ACDE), along with 35 of its member schools jointly present the “ACDE Webinar Series.”

This series features university-based key opinion leaders presenting numerous topics on multiple dates and times.