Research

4 • Caries Risk Assessment & Caries Preventive Management

Background

DHSRU has made major contributions to the evidence base in cariology over the last two decades. We have a well-established international reputation in the areas of risk assessment and clinical caries management. A key focus this year has been on making an impact by getting best evidence into cariology education. The clinical caries management system approach has also been advanced by the work of a new, focussed ICDAS group.

Progress

Workshop on the development of the European Curriculum for Cariology
The Unit Director, with colleagues from the Board of the European Organisation for Caries Research (ORCA), has been working up a project over the last three years to ensure the findings of high quality science are fed into a core Cariology Curriculum for teaching and updating dentists across Europe. In 2010 this effort crystallised, working in partnership with the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) and colleagues from across Europe. Initial questionnaires were sent out to 170 dental schools with 90% of the respondents supportive of the idea of developing a European cariology curriculum. A workshop was held in Berlin in June 2010 attended by 75 dental academics from 27 countries. Professor Pitts chaired one of the five working groups and research collaborators from DHSRU and Dundee Dental School participated in the other four groups. The main aims in developing the core curriculum guidelines in these domains were by evidence review and consensus development:

1. to determine major competences
2. to determine supporting competences and
3. to assign three different levels to the supporting competences:
   a) to be competent at, b) to have knowledge of and c) to be familiar with.

Currently, the chairs of the five working groups are preparing consistent final documents from which guidelines for a European core curriculum in cariology for undergraduate students will be produced, published initially in the European Journal for Dental Education. The material will later be available for general download from the websites of the ORCA and the ADEE.

ICDAS – International Classification and Caries Management System: ICCMS™
The ICDAS Foundation took forward its clinical caries management agenda by holding an International workshop at Temple University (Philadelphia, USA) in April. Using a Workshop format, consensus was developed on a prevention-prioritised approach to treatment planning and caries management. This was developed and refined into the International Classification and Caries Management System™. The System was internationally peer reviewed at an open Symposium held in Montpelier, France in June.

Images below

The final consensus educational framework model for a European Curriculum for Cariology developed at the Berlin Workshop held by ORCA / ADEE is shown with a list of participating countries. The other figure is a summary overview of the ICDAS Foundation’s International Classification and Caries Management System™ developed in 2010 by eleven Universities.

Impact Statement

High quality research (both primary and secondary) in caries risk assessment and preventive caries management carried out by DHSRU over many years has been disseminated, packaged and implemented with international partners to secure far reaching impacts in dental education and clinical practice.