Abstract

It is now widely recognized that an ecological change of the resident bacteria in the dental biofilm affects the development of dental caries. There are five factors which are considered to contribute to the change: toothbrushing, fluoride, sugar, acid, and saliva. This book explains each of these factors in an easy-to-understand manner with supporting evidence. With a better understanding on the causes of dental caries, dental professionals would confidently encourage their patients to change their behavior for caries prevention.
This book presents the author's unique method called NICCS (N. Ito Caries Care System). Specifically, the patient's risk is assessed by only asking 10 questions, and a very simple suggestion related to five factors is given to prevent caries. The resulting behavioral change should shift "drill and fill" by dentists to "non-operative treatment" in which patients control their own dental caries.

Author’s Information

Naoto Ito (private practitioner, Kanagawa, Japan)