Incipient carious lesions remain a prevalent issue worldwide – vVardis discusses the global impact, and how to prevent and treat caries.
Despite technological advancements, better healthcare, evidence-based approaches and minimally invasive treatments with a focus on preventative measures in the 21st century, dental caries is a global burden with substantial economic, social, and health implications.
Caries remains a prevalent non-communicable oral health issue globally and may also be associated with systemic health and secondary diseases (World Health Organization, 2024). Nearly 80% of all patients have initial caries-the so called ‘watch areas’ and the majority of these patients leave the office without any treatment (Skeie et al, 2022; Jacobsen et al, 2019).
Economic burden of caries
The impact of dental caries extends beyond oral health, and the economic burden of caries is substantial. The cost of treating dental caries and its complications is a significant part of healthcare expenditures globally.
In addition to direct costs, such as dental treatments and hospitalisations, there are indirect costs related to lost productivity and absenteeism from work or school. Global estimates in 2015 suggested that the total worldwide costs of oral and dental diseases amounted to approximately $544 billion. Of this, approximately 45% ($245 billion), was estimated to be due to caries (Righolt et al, 2018). Data from England in 2015-2016 showed that £50.5m was spent on children less than 19 years of age for tooth extractions, a majority of which were due to tooth decay (Dunleavy et al, 2024).
The technological revolution is reshaping every aspect of the healthcare industry, including dentistry, from diagnosis to treatment planning and patient communication. Integrating and adopting AI tools into the digital imaging system for early caries detection in the clinical workflow, followed by treating early caries through enamel regeneration, could be a significant step forward.
Curodont Repair
Curodont Repair is a proprietary vVardis monomeric self-assembling peptide technology derived from natural amino acids. When applied to the etched enamel surface, it self-assembles into a matrix that acts as a scaffold to guide remineralisation by attracting calcium and phosphates from the saliva for formation of new hydroxyapatite crystals.
Curodont Repair offers a simple, targeted, non-invasive in-office treatment of incipient carious lesions that acts to the depth of the lesion to remineralise the enamel, filling the gap between preventive and restorative dentistry.
The biomimetic peptide technology in Curodont Repair is backed by more than 200 clinical studies and reviews to investigate the effectiveness of proprietary formulation, with positive outcomes supportive of its effect on arresting and reversing initial carious lesions (vVardis, 2025).
Prevention of incipient carious lesions
While the utilisation of preventive dental care has increased over time, the prevalence of S-ECC (severe early childhood caries) continues to increase (National Center for Health Statistics, 2018; Patel et al, 2023). Early intervention of dental caries is highly favoured. Untreated cases can lead to complications increasing patient suffering and adverse psychosocial and economic impact (Vasireddy et al, 2021).
The burden of dental cost increases exponentially when the untreated incipient lesions subject to ‘wait and watch’ approach develop into full-fledged caries. This leads to restorative cycles, endodontic treatments, prosthodontic work or eventually more invasive procedures such as dental implants. Regular dental check-ups, utilising AI technology for early detection of incipient carious lesions followed by treatment of early enamel lesions before they progress to more severe stages could be a promising approach to combat this global burden.
Dental caries remains a significant global health issue with far-reaching consequences. Addressing this burden requires a comprehensive approach that includes preventive, non-invasive measures and an emphasis on early detection and treatment.
By prioritising oral health and effective strategies directed towards treating early lesions, it is often possible to arrest their progression. Consequently the restorative cycle is delayed. This may not only reduce the prevalence of caries but also its economic impact to improve the overall oral health.
References
- Oral health (who.int) www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/oral-health
- Skeie MS, Sen A, Dahllöf G, Fagerhaug TN, Høvik H, Klock KS. Dental caries at enamel and dentine level among European adolescents – a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Oral Health. 2022 Dec 18;22(1):620.
- Jacobsen ID, Crossner CG, Eriksen HM, Espelid I, Ullbro C. Need of non-operative caries treatment in 16-year-olds from Northern Norway. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2019 Apr;20(2):73-78
- Righolt AJ, Jevdjevic M, Marcenes W, et al. Global-, Regional-, and Country-Level Economic Impacts of Dental Diseases in 2015. Journal of dental research. 2018;97(5):501-7.
- Dunleavy G, Verma N, et al. Inequalities in oral health: estimating the longitudinal economic burden of dental caries by deprivation status in six countries. BMC Public Health. 2024 Nov 21;24(1):3239.
- Full list of publications available: https://professional.vvardis.com/literature/
- No 37 Prevalence of total and untreated dental caries among youth: United States, 2015–2016 (National Center for Health Statistics) (2018).
- Patel S, Fantauzzi AJ, Patel R, Buscemi J, Lee HH. Childhood caries and dental surgery under general anesthesia: an overview of a global disease and its impact on anesthesiology. Int Anesthesiol Clin. 2023 Jan 1;61(1):21-25
- Vasireddy D, et al. Socioeconomic Factors Associated With the Risk and Prevalence of Dental Caries and Dental Treatment Trends in Children: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) Data, 2016-2019. Cureus. 2021 Nov 1;13(11):e19184.
This article is sponsored by vVArdis.
