[Early caries diagnosis].

Early detection of carious lesions enables the dental professional to interfere in caries development. Visual inspection in combination with bitewing radiographs performed better than new quantitative methods in detecting early non-cavitated carious lesions. Once a lesion has been detected assessment of activity (diagnosis) is important in order to distinguish between an active process and a scar developed in the past. The clinical gaze, an intellectual interpretation of the dental condition, whereby the caries experience of the recent past is used as an important caries predictor, is better able to produce a correct estimate of the caries risk than prediction models based on risk factors. A correct diagnosis of lesion activity in combination with the caries risk of the patient gives us a tool to predict caries development in the future. Subsequently caries activity can be influenced by addressing the factors which cause caries (causal therapy).