Annals and Essences of Dentistry
Open Access

Abstract

NEWTRENDS IN TREATMENT OF DENTAL CARIES IN OUTREACH PROGRAMME – CARISOLV

Raju HG

Dental caries is a global disease that affects almost everyone. The presence of untreated (unfilled) carious lesions is quite common in rural areas among school going children. Poor awareness about oral health, lack of dental manpower, lack of required infrastructure and lack of political will are some possible reasons which have contributed to this picture. Conventional caries treatment is carried out with a high speed hand piece to gain access to the lesion and low speed hand piece to remove caries. This is found to be unpleasant by many patients. The new technique chemo-mechanical caries removal more documented alternative to traditional drilling. This compendium is about Carisolv a chemo-mechanical system for non-invasive, gentle dentine caries removal based on biological principles through the use of an active gel and special hand instruments that preserve healthy tissue and increase patient comfort. Carisolv gel is applied to the caries affected area of the dentine where it softens the diseased portion of the tooth. Healthy tissue is preserved. The softened carious dentine is removed with special Carisolv instruments and filled with adhesive material (i.e GIC) the treatment is quick and effective. Many patients and dentists call it “a silent revolution”. Clinical studies have shown that Carisolv reduces or eliminates pain in association with caries removal. The reduced need for local anesthesia and drills also lead to minimized post-operative pain or discomfort. All these aspects prompt more patients treated with Carisolv to return to the dentist it caries reappears. A quick review of dentine caries will clarify the requirements of an effective, chemo-mechanical caries removal system.