EARLY CARIES DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND MONITORING: PAVING THE WAY FOR PERSONALIZED DENTAL CARE

Dental caries continues to be a major global health concern. The World Health Organization’s 2022 reports emphasize that despite significant efforts and scientific progress in caries detection and management, the overall situation has shown only minimal improvement over the past three decades. This persistence may be attributed to outdated concepts, developed nearly a century ago, that still influence modern approaches to caries management. There is an urgent need to rethink professional strategies for preventing and managing caries. Modern dentistry has the potential to greatly benefit from adopting innovative concepts and advanced technologies for caries detection and treatment. Among these, optical-based caries detection methods, which have been established for over a decade, align with contemporary understandings of the disease and adhere to international recommendations emphasizing early detection and minimally invasive management. This narrative review explores the current state of knowledge and recent advances in caries detection, diagnosis, monitoring, and management, while offering insights into future directions for clinical practice and research.