Minimal Intervention Dentistry: An Overview

Minimal intervention dentistry is defined as a philosophy of professional care which deals with the first occurrence, earliest detection and earliest cure of the disease at micro levels followed by minimal invasive treatment to repair the irreversible damage caused by that disease. In the past, dentistry's approach to treating dental caries has been surgical - removing diseased tissue and replacing it with restorative material. Minimal intervention dentistry embodies following principles: -Reminiralization of early lesion. -Reduction in cariogenic bacteria, in order to eliminate the risk of further demineralization and cavitation. -Minimum surgical intervention of cavitated lesion. -Repair rather than replacement of defective restorations. -Disease control. The knowledge required for the adoption of this new philosophy has been accumulating for a number of years and the principles have been utilized in enough practices to suggest that they are sound. From realization to conceptualization... From conceptualization to materialization... ...it has to begin with REALIZATION...!!!