Caries risk assessment.

Caries remains the most common chronic disease affecting both children and adults in the United States. High rates of primary and secondary caries in at-risk populations result in significant lifetime costs. Dental providers should be skilled in assessing an individual patient's risk for dental caries so that effective and minimally invasive preventive strategies can be employed to address the etiology of dental caries. Validated assessment strategies, such as the caries risk assessment model, allow dental providers to implement a systematic and evidence-based approach to astutely assess and record changes in the caries risk status of patients in an effort to prevent disease.