• Root caries as defined by Hazen, is a soft, progressive lesion that is found

anywhere on the root surface that has lost its connective tissue attachment and

is exposed to the environment.

• Root caries occurs at or apical to the CEJ. Generally root caries lesions have

been described as having a distinct outline and presenting with a discolored

appearance in relation to the surrounding non-carious root.

• Most common reasons for their occurrence is gingival recession, though other

causes can also be present. With advanced age, there is more gingival recession,

which leaves the root surface exposed to the oral environment and leads to an

increase in the root caries rate.

• The term “primary” as it is used with root caries refers to new dental caries

occurring in the absence of a restoration. Secondary (recurrent) root caries

refers to caries occurring adjacent to an existing restoration.

• Root caries can occur in the areas of abrasion, erosion, and abfraction, or as

primary root caries and recurrent decay.

• Root surface caries is initiated when there is periodontal attachment loss

exposing the root surface to the oral environment.

• There are no reported clinical symptoms of root caries although pain may be

present in advanced lesions.

• An area where root caries has taken place may appear as irregular or round or

oval in shape which then may spread radially and join other areas of root caries.

• Root caries are more common in males than females. Most commonly they are

seen in mandibular molars, followed by premolars, canines and incisors. This

order is reversed in the maxilla. The buccal and interproximal surfaces are

more susceptible than the palatal or lingual surfaces.

• Initial root caries:

White at first then may become light brown to yellow.

Shallow, spreads laterally.

Without patient symptoms.

• Active, progressing root caries:

Yellowish, light brown.

Soft or leathery on probing with light pressure.

Its covered by visible plaque.

Its primarily detected by the presence of softness and cavitation.

• One of the more difficult diagnostic challenges is a patient who has attachment

loss with no gingival recession, thereby limiting accessibility for clinical

inspection.

• Inactive root caries:

Well-defined

Dark brownish or black in color

May be rough or smooth shiny

surface but its cleanable.

Hard on probing with moderate pressure.

Usually not covered with plaque

Its seen in patients (usually older) whose oral hygiene and diet in

recent years are good. Where discoloration of such areas is common

and usually is associated with remineralization.

• The microflora responsible for root caries consists of Streptococcus mutans,

Lactobacillus and Actinobacillus.

• Micro-organisms metabolize sugars into organic acids, these acids then pass

through the root structure and start the process of demineralization. This

process takes place at the pH of 6.4 (5.5 for demineralization of enamel). The

rate of demineralization of root occur at higher pH and is much faster than that

of enamel because the root has much less mineral content (55%) than that of

enamel (99%).

• Clinical examination is best carried out with an explorer. Tooth surface should

be cleaned before examination since plaque covering the lesion can lead to

misdiagnosis.

• Accurate radiographs can also help in diagnosis but they should be free from

overlapping or burnout.

• Special dyes can be useful for detecting root caries, these dyes stain the infected

dentine and thus allow the clinician to detect caries.

1. Proper preventive measures of plaque removal (like educating patients,

maintaining a proper tooth brushing technique, use mouthwash), diet

modification.

2. Special attention should be given to root caries-prone patients who are

wearing dental prostheses. This can be done by proper management of soft

tissues during fixed prosthesis procedures and avoiding the placement of

restoration margins apical to the surrounding tissue to avoid plaque

accumulation.

3. In patients with low salivary flow, xylitol-containing chewing gum which

stimulates salivary flow and decreases plaque formation has shown to

decrease the caries.

4. The use of topical fluoride should be advocated because it promoters the

remineralization process and reduces the rate of demineralization. There are

numerous methods by which fluoride can be supplied:

A. Exposure to fluoride in drinking water results in increasing resistance to

root caries.

B. Topical fluoride products are available as 0.05% sodium fluoride rinse,

0.12% chlorhexidine rinse, and as 1.1% neutral sodium fluoride gel in a 5

minutes tray technique, with 4 applications over 2-4 weeks.

C. Other products are dentifrices containing 1100 ppm sodium fluoride.

D. fluoride chewing gum which is effective especially in patients with low

salivary flow.

E. Fluoride-containing varnishes have also been effective against root caries.

• Treatment plan for root caries depends on the following factors:

Clinical examination.

Size of the lesion.

Type, extent, and site of the lesion.

Esthetic requirements.

Physical and mental condition of the patient.

• Root caries lesions are difficult to restore because of their location, which is

usually subgingival. For proper restoration, sufficient access and isolation are

needed.

• Proper access and isolation to treat root caries are very important, and ideally

involve use of a rubber dam if the lesion is supragingival.

• To begin with it, root surface is cleaned with pumice to remove the plaque.

• Then the excavation of carious tooth tissue is done and restoration walls are

prepared. The margins and retention design depends on the restorative

material used. For example:

When a tooth is to be restored with amalgam, retention grooves are

required occlusally and gingivally.

For composites, beveling of the coronal margins of the preparation is

required.

• If the location of the lesion is near the gingival margin or is subgingival. In that

case, cotton rolls and retraction cords can be used.

• If the lesion extends subgingivally and cannot be completely observed, even

with the use of a retraction cord, a releasing incision may be required for

completing the restorative procedure (Periodontal surgery).

• There is a protocol for treatment of root caries that had putted by Billings in

1985 called (Index of Billings for root caries severity treatment) as following:

I. Grade 1: Incipient; no surface defect; need remineralizing therapy.

II. Grade 2: Shallow; surface defect <0.5mm; need recontouring.

III. Grade 3: Cavitation; surface defect >0.5mm; need filling.

IV. Grade 4: Pulpal carious pulp exposure; need RCT + filling.

Properties:

• Good marginal adaptation compatibility.

• Isolation is difficult.

• The use of direct filling gold is

decreased.

Properties:

• Easy to manipulate.

• Can be used in areas which are difficult to isolate.

• The margins are self-sealing.

• Lacks aesthetic appearance.

• No therapeutic effect.

• Cannot chemically bond to tooth structure.

• It requires the cutting of healthy tooth

structure adjacent to the carious

tissue for adequate retention of the

restoration.

Properties:

• Biocompatible.

• It has chemical bond to tooth structure.

• Releasing fluoride over extended periods of time.

• Poor aesthetics.

• Excessive wear with time.

Properties:

• Biocompatible.

• Bond to tooth.

• Have thermal expansion and contraction characteristics that match tooth

structure.

• Fluoride releasing feature; also it can be recharged by uptake of fluoride ions

from the oral environment.

• They are aesthetic.

• Less brittle than the traditional

glass ionomer.

Properties:

• Highly aesthetic materials.

• It bond to enamel and dentin.

• Hybrid composites possess improved strength and improved aesthetics

compared with traditional resin composites.

• Microfilled composites are recommended for root surface restorations as they

have lower elastic modulus than hybrid composites.

• Don’t have any anti-cariogenic effect.

• Resin composites are technique-sensitive materials and require proper isolation

for the clinical success of the restoration.

• Polymerization shrinkage associated with the curing of resin composites is

another concern, since this can result in discoloration of the resin around the

margins and in microleakage that leads to tooth sensitivity and secondary

caries.

• One of the most frequent clinical problems associated with class-II and class-V

cavities in adhesive resin restorations is the weak link of restorative material to

root dental structures, when the cervical margin is located below the CEJ. In

terms of cementum, the tissue-bonding properties have not been adequately

elucidated.

• It is well known that root surfaces exposed for a long period to the oral

environment develop a superficial hypermineralized layer with limited

permeability, compared with intact cementum. These surfaces may interfere in

the marginal quality of root restorations, especially in elderly population.

• Very limited information exists on cementum-bonded restorations. Ferrari et

al. in 1997 reported that cementum treated with dentine bonding systems is

infiltrated by the resin, but the predictability of the bond is unclear.

• Furthermore, it is still unclear (whether or not) the problem of bonding to

cementum is related to the structure and properties of the tissue or to a limited

effectiveness of the adhesive materials at the region.

• However, the morphology of the periodontitis-affected cementum surface was

highly variable, with islands of dense granular material. Based on these

findings, mechanical removal of the superficial layer of the exposed cementum

prior to any periodontal regenerative treatment has been advised. This

treatment mode may be applied to improve adhesive bonding as well.

• Modification of intact cementum surfaces to improve adhesion may include a

eproteination step, prior to any adhesive treatment, in order to remove the high

organic content and expose the inorganic substrate, like conditioning with

aqueous solutions of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl).

• Sandwich technique is another solution to solve adhesion of composite to root

surface.

Properties:

• Fluoride-containing resin composites release only small amounts of fluoride.

• It has little ability to recharge from the oral environment.

• Therefore, they are not recommended for use with high caries-risk patients, but

can be used where aesthetics is a concern.

Properties:

• They are polyacid-modified resin composites.

• They have possess properties of both glass ionomer and resin composites.

• They leach fluoride, but to a lesser extent than glass ionomer.

• They bond to both enamel and dentin.

• They can be used in low-stress areas where esthetics is a concern.

• With more elderly people retaining their natural teeth, the need to understand

the nature and causes of root surface lesions is of great importance. Preventive

measures that include proper oral hygiene, plaque control, and fluoride

therapy are required prior to and after dental treatment.

• Treatment of root surface caries should be directed and customized to the

individual case by classifying patients in risk groups to achieve maximum

results.

• The use of resin-modified glass ionomer materials is recommended for these

restorations because of their anti-cariogenic properties in patients with a high

caries risk.

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