[Identification of caries risk patients 1. An overview of predictive models]

The ability of dentists to select caries risk patients on the basis of what they see and know, varies considerably. There is a need for objective methods. Methods using bacterial counts and salivary tests appeared to be inferior compared to methods based on the caries experience of the patient. There are two models, Nexø and Dentoprog, using the caries experience as caries predictor. The well documented Nexø method does not predict caries increment, but gives the provider a tool to target preventive intervention to those patients in need. The Dentoprog method is accurate, but has only one level of caries risk, which is considered by most providers as too low and thus unpractical.