35^th American Dentistry Congress

Dental Caries:

Dental caries is one of the oldest and most common infections of humans. Caries incidence increased dramatically in post-industrial societies with increasing affluence and in particular with the availability of processed sugar. In more recent times, improved oral hygiene practices coupled with fluoridation of the public water supply along with the presence of fluoride in dentifrices, mouth rinses a and processed foods, have greatly reduced the prevalence of dental caries in the population. Nevertheless, caries, and in particular ECC, remains a significant problem in some sections of society, especially those with low socioeconomic status and with limited access to healthcare. In the USA, caries remains a significant childhood disease and around 20% of the population experiences 80% of the carious lesions.