Hrynyshyn O. The approaches to the treatment of deep proximal carious lesions of deciduous molars in children

A survey of 445 children aged 2-9 years in preschool institutions and schools was done. The dominated carious lesions were located on the proximal surfaces of primary molars. The analysis of carious lesions structure using ICDAS criteria demonstrated that the deep carious lesions approaching the pulp increased significantly with age. Morphological study of the pulp state in rats with the caries approaching the pulp revealed that the marked inflammatory changes were significantly more likely throughout the coronal pulp of teeth with proximal caries compared to teeth with occlusal caries. The result of management of deep proximal carious lesions of deciduous molars with three different methods within two years follow-up, provided the strong evidence that pulpal and periapical tissue inflammation was more often revealed when teeth had been treated by indirect pulp treatment method in comparison with procedure of direct pulp capping or vital pulpotomy. Presented prospective clinical trial revealed that vital pulpotomy procedure before restoration of deep proximal carious lesions demonstrated higher effectiveness and more favourable long-lasting prognosis due to the evidenced decrease of pulpal and periapical tissue diseases occurred during the two years follow-up.