Minimally Invasive Dentistry in Dental Caries Management

¿Extension for prevention¿ has given way to the new paradigm of minimally invasive dentistry. As defined by the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry, Minimal invasive dentistry is an ¿evidence-based discipline¿ dealing with oral hard and soft tissue-saving procedures with a primary goal of improving quality of life through life long optimal oral health and preserving tooth structure. The minimally invasive approach in treating dental caries incorporates the dental science of detecting, diagnosing, intercepting, and treating dental caries at the microscopic level. With minimally invasive dentistry, dental caries are treated as an infectious condition rather than an end product of it. All efforts should be made to preserve a maximum amount of sound tooth structure.