Cariology and Preventive Dentistry

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/T_CARIOPD1

Course Objective

Competences covered according to the General Educational Framework for Oral Health Care 2020, see Canvas Course The student has: Knowledge of:the mechanisms of dental erosion and the role of dietary acids;prevention and control strategies for erosion, including dietary advice.In-depth knowledge of:the processes involved in dental caries in both primary and permanent dentition;des
- and remineralisation phenomena;the role of dietary habits (e.g. sucrose) and the possibilities of controlling dental caries by modification of diet;psycho-social aspects and risk assessment related to dental caries.In-depth knowledge and experience in:assessing oral hygiene and risk factors for caries development and (re)considering/composing individual preventive measures;caries lesions detection, including assessment of lesion severity and activity;indicating additional exams, such as radiographs, as well as interpreting the findings;caries preventive measures, both homecare and professional care;providing dental health education for the child and the parents;performing professional preventive care and evaluating the (cost-)effectiveness of preventive programs and methods within dental care for children and adolescents;minimally invasive approaches for the treatment of initial, moderate, and severe caries lesions in both primary and permanent teeth;modern concepts of caries removal, recognizing their advantages and disadvantages, and selecting appropriate treatment modalities for severe caries lesions.

Course Content

Prevention of oral diseases should be the key element in paediatric dentistry. Preventive measures should be adopted from the earliest stages of oral care and should accompany all treatment strategies applied. In this course the students will learn all basic knowledge and new insights, based on both evidence and experience of preventive dentistry. The role of brushing, diet, fluoride, and cost-effect ratio of preventive programs will be explored. An historical overview will be given on knowledge, epidemiological trends, tendencies, and activities concerning preventive oral care, both community-driven and individually oriented. Students will learn the basic knowledge of erosion and current concepts of carious etiology and treatment. Various treatment strategies for (deep) caries will be discussed, reviewed, and trained in (pre)clinical situations. The student will learn how to plan (long and short term) and conduct dental treatment respecting an individual approach towards the child.

Teaching Methods

Self-study, seminars, clinical cases.

Method of Assessment

Learning assessment The student needs to pass all components mentioned below:Literature seminars (limited to the topics discussed in this block) (grade: Good; Pass; or Fail)Final essay (grade: 1-10)Grading A prerequisite for grade registration (grade 1-10) is successful completion of the literature seminars. In case of a fail for one or more of the literature seminars and a pass for the final essay, a 5.0 will be registered and students will need to retake the relevant literature seminars.