Current teaching of cariology in North American dental schools

All 65 dental schools in the United States and Canada were contacted to obtain information relevant to their cariology teaching effort, the caries management philosophy, the diagnostic threshold for surgical intervention and the non-surgical treatment alternatives implemented. Forty-three schools (66%) responded to the request for information. Marked variations in the teaching of cariology and the implementation of modern diagnostic and treatment modalities were noted. The results indicate that with exceptions, efforts to increase curricular time and make organizational changes that would promote cariology as an important academic and clinical endeavor have fallen far short of predictions made more than 20 years ago for North America. Many cariology programs in North American dental schools lack the detail and depth expected for this important area of clinical dentistry.