Paediatric & MIH Randomised controlled trial ✓ Peer reviewed

Does detection of active initial caries lesions in primary teeth improve clinical outcomes? CARDEC-02 randomized controlled trial of diagnostic-treatment strategies guided by different caries thresholds.

Caries research · Braga MM, Floriano I, Freitas RD, Rocha ES, Tedesco TK, Machado GM, Gomes RA, Machado TG, Pontes LRA, Imparato JCP, Raggio DP, Mendes FM · 2026-09-25

Researchers compared two caries detection approaches in young children over two years: one identifying all lesions including early active ones, and one focusing only on advanced lesions. Detecting early active lesions did not reduce the need for future fillings compared to ignoring them.

A plain-English summary of the study's own findings — we don't add our own claims or interpretation. Read the full paper for the complete methods and results, and apply your own clinical judgement.

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