Glossary

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  • Caries-detecting dyes

    Any stain or fluorescent solution used to reveal demineralized dentin. When applied to teeth, they highlight areas that may need excavation. A clinical examination of the tooth for hardness may be needed to confirm suspicious regions illuminated by dyes. Some studies suggest they are overly sensitive but not specific.  

  • Caries activity test

    Any laboratory test that measures the degree of caries activity in a dental patient. The tests may identify the number of cariogenic bacteria or the acid production from saliva samples.  

  • Caries sicca

    Bony destruction such as that caused by infection with syphilis.  

  • Root caries

    Caries on the root of a tooth. The root is more susceptible to decay than the rest of the tooth due to the lack of an enamel covering, difficulty in maintaining a clean root surface, and the lack of effective preventive therapies.  

  • Recurrent caries

    Dental caries that develops at the small imperfections between the tooth surface and a restoration, caused by plaque at the imperfections.  

  • Rampant caries

    A sudden onset of widespread caries that affects most of the teeth and penetrates quickly to the dental pulp.  

  • Radiation caries

    Dental caries that develops as a side effect of treatment of malignancies of the oral cavity with ionizing radiation. The etiology is, in part, due to the dysfunction of the salivary glands.  

  • Pit and fissure caries

    Caries in the pits and fissures of tooth enamel.  

  • Incipient caries

    One of the two distinct stages in the development of a carious dental lesion. The first stage is the incipient lesion, marked by the appearance of a white spot. Microscopic pores course through the enamel to the subsurface demineralization, where the main body of the lesion is located.  

  • Classification of caries

    Black’s classification of dental caries according to the part of the tooth involved: class I, occlusal; class II, interproximal, commonly at the dentinoenamel junction of bicuspids and molars; class III, interproximal surfaces not involving incisal surfaces; class IV, interproximal but involving an incisal surface; class V, the faciocervical area.  

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