A scoping literature review on minimum intervention dentistry for children with dental caries

Background: Dental caries in children's permanent teeth remains a global burden. In contrast to the traditional approach of treating the disease through surgical operative intervention, minimum intervention has increasingly been recommended for managing children with dental caries.

Aim: This scoping review aimed to describe the literature related to the provision of minimum intervention dentistry for children with caries and to identify research gaps.

Methods: Electronic databases (Medline via Ovid, PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus) were searched, together with grey literature databases, and key organisation websites. Data was extracted on a piloted extraction template and a thematic analysis was undertaken.

Results: Sixty-seven relevant articles were identified. No empirical literature was identified that assessed a complete minimum intervention care pathway to managing caries. Five themes were identified from the scoping literature: evidence base, clinician attitude and skills, practice implementation, acceptability and environmental factors.

Conclusions: The majority of articles were opinion papers. There is a paucity of empirical evidence supporting the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a minimum intervention pathway for children with dental caries in primary dental care. The scoping review has identified some potential barriers to the implementation of such a care pathway, including regulatory and remunerative frameworks and clinical training/education.