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. Although many of these advances are universally applicable, 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 main 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. Advances covered include the development of new anti-microbials, vehicles for fluoride application, caloric and non-caloric sweeteners, and techniques, such as the use of dental sealants to prevent pit and fissure caries. Promising work on the genetic manipulation of pathogenic bacteria and on the development of safe and effective oral vaccines is also reviewed. The second section describes a number of new options available to diagnose and treat oral diseases. Highlights include new materials with caries-preventive or caries-arresting properties for use in restoration, new tests for the early diagnosis of periodontal diseases, and the use of computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacture technology for the fabrication of inlays. Noting that a new approach to treatment is now possible, the report concludes that a caries lesion in its early stage need never become a cavty, and that the vast majority of periodontal problems can now be treated using non-surgical, conservative approaches. Other areas of progress include advances in tissue regeneration, in the management of juvenile periodontitis, and in the replacement of missing teeth. The report also documents the growing involvement of oral health care practitioners in the diagnosis and management of oral cancers and oral manifestations of other diseases, notably HIV infection and AIDS. The final section reviews the increasing role played by computers in the electronic management of oral care, in the storage and transmission of clinical data, and in the education of oral health personnel.

chi eng fre rus spa.

jpn tur.

WHODOC

WHO monograph

4