4.90 Order no. Evaluates striking recent advances in oral health care technology, materials, and clinical methods in terms of their capacity to improve the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. Addressed to oral health authorities, the report makes a special effort to identify new methods and technologies that have proved their advantages, in terms of costs as well as effectiveness, and can thus be implemented at the public health level. Particular attention is given to methods and techniques that can improve oral health care in settings where resources are limited and high-technology equipment is scarce. The report also shows how dramatic improvements in scientific knowledge and technology have contributed to the minimally invasive, low-intervention approach to oral health care that is now recommended.
Information is presented in three sections.
The first describes the wide range of new options for the prevention of dental caries and periodontal diseases, and for the early detection of oral cancer. The second section covers advanced techniques for diagnosis and treatment. The report concludes that a caries lesion in its early stage need never become a cavity, and that the vast majority of periodontal problems can now be treated using non-surgical, conservative approaches. The final section reviews the increasing role played by computers in the electronic management of data.