Secondary Caries in situ Models: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Dental research
• Cariology
• Biomaterials

Background:

• In situ caries research bridges clinical and laboratory studies using intraoral devices.
• Various in situ models exist for investigating secondary caries.
• This review systematically compares existing secondary caries models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare current in situ secondary caries models.
• To analyze lesion progression per day values across different models.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases.
• Extraction of model parameters and caries outcomes by two independent researchers.
• Normalization of outcomes by calculating lesion progression per day.

Main Results:

• 31 articles were included from 335 initial searches.
• Models varied in sample location (palatal, buccal, approximal), fluoride presence, and analysis methods.
• Average enamel lesion progression next to composite was 4.3 ± 2.8 µm/day.

Conclusions:

• Palatal models demonstrated caries progression rates 2-5 times higher than clinical rates.
• Lesion progression per day is a valuable metric for comparing models.
• Standardization of in situ models could be improved using this metric.