[Caries risk assessment - are saliva tests as well as microbiological and clinical test procedures worthwhile?]

The recent representative survey has proven once more that people in Germany are affected by caries to a very different extent. Since caries can be prevented by risk-adjusted preventive programs, it would be helpful to have a possibility to determine the individual caries risk before cavities occur. Determination of a relative risk, risk screening and risk diagnosis are different levels of caries risk assessment. The present article provides information about which caries risk assessment options are available for different populations. A relative risk can be determined by the detection of Mutants Streptococci in caries-free 2-5-year-old children. With Dentoprog, a valid instrument for caries risk screening is available for 6-12-year-old school children. With respect to all other patients, a quantitative risk diagnosis can be roughly performed using the Cariogram which is based on the assessment of multiple risk parameters. The conclusion is that several options for caries risk assessment for different age groups are available. Nevertheless, there is no solution to how often a patient should appear for prevention in a dental office nor which preventive measures have to be taken to keep him/her healthy. Therefore it seems reasonable to roughly determine the recall frequency on the basis of the respective risk assessment and to adjust this frequency over time after the evaluation of disease progression.