The "deep caries" challenge. Prevalence and management of deep carious lesions in Northern Norway.

• Main Author: Stangvaltaite, Lina
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: UiT The Arctic University of Norway 2015
• Subjects: dentistry; odontology; carious exposure; MTA; VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Klinisk odontologiske fag: 830; VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Clinical dentistry disciplines: 830; Norway; Northern Norway
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8295

Papers number I and II of this thesis are not available in Munin: Paper I. Deep carious lesions and other consequences of caries among 18-year-olds at Public Dental Health Service in Northern Norway: a cross-sectional age cohort study. Stangvaltaite L., Kundzina R., Bolstad N.L., Eriksen H.M., Kerosuo E. Available in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, vol. 73, issue 6, 2015 Paper II. Treatment preferences of deep carious lesions in mature teeth: questionnaire study among dentists in Northern Norway. Stangvaltaite L., Kundzina R., Eriksen H.M., Kerosuo E. Available in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, vol. 71, issue 6, 2013 The overall aim of this doctoral thesis was to increase the understanding and knowledge of the prevalence and management of deep carious lesions. The prevalence of dental caries in Norway was among the highest in the world in the middle of 20th century. Though it has significantly declined, there are indications that the prevalence of caries in Northern Norway is higher than in the rest of the country. A higher prevalence of caries might lead to a higher prevalence of deep carious lesions. Study I focused on the prevalence of deep carious lesions and other consequences of caries (DCL-CC) among 18-year-olds enrolled in the Public Dental Health Service in Northern Norway. There were 488 (26%) subjects having at least one molar with DCL-CC. The mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) (SD) score among these 488 subjects was 9.1 (4.6), twice as high as among subjects without DCL-CC (4.5, SD 4.0). The most prevalent modality among untreated deep carious lesions, deep restorations, root canal obturated molars, and molars extracted due to caries were deep restorations, which were observed among 21.5% (n=404) of the age cohort. Root canal obturated molars, molars extracted due to caries, and untreated deep carious lesions were prevalent in 5.1%, 3.6% and 1.6% of this age cohort, respectively. The high prevalence of DCL-CC in Northern Norway is of concern and presents a challenge for dentists, as no ...