The strength of the evidence available to estimate the validity of diagnostic methods for carious lesions dental caries is insufficient to the task. For many applications, there are few studies, and when sufficient numbers of studies are available, substantial variation among studies and/or the quality of the studies is problematic.
The literature describing the management of two specific dental caries-related conditions, nonsurgical interventions for noncavitated lesions and prevention of lesions in persons at elevated risk for new lesions, is inadequate to permit conclusions about the efficacy of most methods. Only for two specific applications, fluoride varnishes in caries-active, high-risk individuals and fluoride-based interventions for individuals receiving radiotherapy was the evidence rated as fair. For all other management methods, the evidence was judged to be incomplete. The need for efficacy determinations is acute as much of modern preventive dental practice is predicated on the efficacy of management methods for these conditions.