Following a new preventative oral health regimen could largely reduce the need for traditional dental fillings by up to 50 percent, a new study finds. 

Traditionally, dental decay has been treated as a progressive problem that required the identification of early decay, its removal by drilling and then the use of tooth material to fill it.

But a team of Australian researchers say that tooth decay is not always progressive and, even when it is, the process occurs more slowly then previously thought, which provides plenty of time for potential dental caries to be identified and treated.

University of Sydney Professor Wendell Evans and his team developed the “Caries Management System," which is a set of protocols which involve the assessment of decay risk, the interpretation of dental X-rays, and specific treatment of early decay (decay that is not yet a cavity).

The CMS program is as follows:

•    Application of high concentration fluoride varnish by dentists to the sites of early decay
•    Attention to home tooth brushing skills
•    Restriction of between-meal snacks and beverages containing added sugar
•    Risk-specific monitoring of identified problem sites.

The program reduced the need for fillings by 30 to 50 percent when it was applied in general dental practices during a seven-year study, Prof. Evans says in the study, which is published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.