Prof. Avijit Banerjee, the renowned international expert researcher, clinician and lecturer in Cariology & Operative Dentistry from the UK’s leading Dental Institute in King's College London, will stimulate the participant to re-think and seriously question the appropriateness and validity of the traditional principles and practice of operative caries management still taught and practised around the world. The surgical approach to excising all carious tissue before placing a larger than necessary restoration is now questioned and has been proved to be biologically detrimental to the long-term success of the restored tooth-restoration complex in patients' mouths. With the development of high-quality adhesive aesthetic materials using chemical bonding technology to seal caries-affected tissues, it is now accepted that a much more conservative approach to caries management is the appropriate method to handle cavitated caries lesions presenting in patients. This contemporary selective, minimally invasive aesthetic caries management rationale will be explained in this presentation, using scientific and clinically evidence-based guidance. The use of modern aesthetic adhesive materials requires a different, perhaps more technically demanding minimally invasive surgical skill-set and this too will be highlighted and illustrated with clinical tips of how to optimize their use in daily clinical practice for the best and most reliable long-term outcomes.
The objectives of this presentation will include:
1. An understanding and appreciation of the minimally invasive operative management of caries.
2. An understanding and appreciation of the chemistry and clinical handling of modern aesthetic adhesive restorative materials used to restore cavities and maintain the viability of the tooth-restoration complex.
3. To be made aware of the postgraduate training opportunities available in this field – flexible-learning masters (MSc) in Advanced Minimum Intervention Dentistry (AMID) offered by KCL.
