Dental caries is a multifactorial disease that results from complex interactions among fermentable carbohydrates in the diet, acid-producing microorganisms, and host factors.
Caries risk profiling helps dentists educate their patients to:
- Reduce their sugar intake
- Improve their diet
- Increase fluoride frequency
- Improve oral hygiene
This is particularly important for patients at high risk of developing caries.
Identifying High-Risk Patients
Early detection and systematic caries risk assessment are the foundation of targeted
intervention. A
patient can be grouped as high-risk for dental caries if they show one or
more
of
the following
indicators:
It has been observed that most high-risk dental caries patients have severe dietary and
dental behaviour
problems, and so, there is an urgent need for dental education and
extensive use
of
fluoride in them.
Who are the low-risk patients?¹
Low-risk patients are characterised by
No active carious lesions
Low-cariogenic diet
Sufficient fluoride
exposure to prevent
caries
Why High-Risk Caries Management Matters
Dental caries is a multifactorial, biofilm-mediated disease influenced by diet, microbial activity, saliva, and fluoride exposure. Modern care emphasises risk-based, preventive, and minimally invasive strategies rather than the traditional “drill-and-fill” approach.2
Preventive Clinical Protocols
for High-Risk Patients
Dentists can use the Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) protocol to
categorise and manage dental caries in children and adults.1
According to the CAMBRA protocol, the management of high-risk patients involves a
multi-modal
preventive
strategy that significantly reduces disease progression, followed
by a recall
interval of four to
six
months:
dentifrices (over 5,000 ppm F) twice daily
for very high-risk cases³
Assess for hyposalivation, as decreased salivary flow can increase the risk of caries.
Behaviour-Driven Risk Reduction
Clinical interventions must be reinforced with sustained behavioural modification.
Patients must be
counselled to:3
- Reduce the frequency of fermentable
carbohydrate intake - Limit sugary snacks between meals
- Encourage daily interdental cleaning
- Reinforce twice-daily brushing
compliance - Follow the at-home instructions given
by the dentist thoroughly
For high-risk caries patients,
protection must continue
beyond the
operatory.
PRESENTING
Colgate Total Advanced Health Toothpaste
Deliver stronger daily protection and superior proactive protection against germs
with Colgate Total
Advanced’s unique Dual Zinc + Arginine formulation, making it
ideal for high-risk
caries patients.
It has shown to reduce germs:
Give your patients non-stop 24 hours anti-germ protection
after brushing with
Colgate Total
Advanced Health
Toothpaste!
References:
- The University of Adelaide, Australia. (n.d.). Strategies for Caries Management in General Dental Practice. Caries. https://share.google/vRSkHLfDjoD8yxigp
- Caries risk assessment and management. (n.d.). American Dental Association. https://www.ada.org/resources/ada-library/oral-health-topics/caries-risk-assessment-and-management
- Featherstone, J. D. B., Crystal, Y. O., Alston, P., Chaffee, B. W., Doméjean, S., Rechmann, Zhan, L., & Ramos-Gomez, F. (2021). Evidence-Based Caries Management for All Ages-Practical guidelines. Frontiers in Oral Health, 2, 657518. https://doi.org/10.3389/froh.2021.657518