Clinical occlusal caries detection methods to use in the general practice Layla Nabaa l.nabaa@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK Hisham Al Shorman Professor Junji Tagami tagami.ope@tmd.ac.jp E Lynch Along with the evolution of dental materials and techniques for the management of dental caries, practices where these treatments are provided have changed. No longer does the detection of the caries process ultimately aim to amputate it by having the tooth drilled or extracted. Other minimal invasive treatment options are available along with an armament of non operative and preventive measures. This had led the clinical settings to take on different instruments to provide the least invasive options for the affected teeth and preventive procedures to the largest number of clinically unaffected teeth in “at risk” Patients. For a successful caries managing practice, the dental clinician and team are left to provide their patients with the correct diagnosis and risk assessments to form the strong basis on which all the rest is built and then offer monitoring means to follow-up on their treatment outcomes. As a dynamic process under the influence of the ever-present, dental plaque activity, the carious process was described as the “unpreventable ubiquitous process” (Ekstrand et al, 2001). Occlusal surfaces account for only 12.5% of those surfaces exposed to the cariogenic challenges but 80%-90% of the total caries experienced in children and adolescents occur on them (Ripa et al, 1988, Anderson, 2002). High incidence rates for these carious lesions occur in a wide age range and take a long time before frankly cavitating (Ripa et al, 1988; Vehkalahti et al, 1991, ten Cate, 2001). This means that dentists will encounter these lesions at different stages in their regular general practice in most of their patients. Understanding these facts would allow the clinician to avoid supervised neglect and treat lesions more conservatively.