Introduction to the symposium on minimal intervention techniques for caries.

Although dental caries has declined precipitously in many industrialized countries, this disease has escalated in less developed countries. Moreover, dental caries remains a public health problem even in most industrialized countries because the disease frequently is more prevalent among subpopulations without access to preventive regimens and treatment. In some developing countries where dental facilities and providers are rare, alternative measures for managing frank lesions are being used. One example of these minimal intervention techniques is "Atraumatic Restorative Treatment" (ART). This procedure, endorsed and actively promoted by the World Health Organization, requires no anesthetic and its costs are minimal. This symposium addresses several aspects and issues of minimal intervention techniques for caries management.