Dental treatment and dental health. Part 2. An alternative philosophy and some new treatment modalities in operative dentistry.

In this, the second of two papers on the relationships between dental treatment and dental health, the philosophical basis of Minimum Intervention Dentistry is presented. This approach to patient care has several distinct treatment modalities. These range from preventive measures and fissure sealants, through monitoring carious lesions for active progression or arrest, to minimal cavity designs such as tunnel preparations and preventive resin restorations which employ adhesive dental restorative materials. This paper discusses these techniques and the implications of this change in philosophy for dental teaching, research and manpower considerations.