A recent study issued in BMC Oral Health shed light on the Selective Caries Removal in Permanent Teeth (SCRiPT) study, which will be useful in providing evidence for a cost-effective and clinically effective approach for the management of deep carious lesions in permanent posterior teeth in the primary care.

Dental caries is a worldwide non-communicable disease that can considerably impair the quality of life. As per the Adult Dental Health Survey 2009, about 85% of adults have a minimum of one dental fillings. Evidence supports the use of selective removal to maintain tooth vitality, avoiding abscess formation and pain, therefore eradicating the requirement for more complex and costly therapy or subsequent tooth loss. However, this evidence is of low quality and primarily collected from studies in the primary teeth.

In this randomized controlled clinical trial, the dentists will enroll 623 people aged over 12 years with deep carious lesions in the permanent posterior teeth. These patients will have a single tooth randomized to selective caries or complete caries removal therapy. NHS databases, clinical examination, and patient questionnaires helped to evaluate the baseline measures and outcome data in the course of 3 years.

Sustained tooth vitality is the major endpoint, while net benefit modelled over a lifetime horizon is the major economic outcome. The clinical secondary endpoints include pulp exposure, caries progression, restoration failure; and patient-centred and economic outcomes. This will assist patients, policy makers, and general dental practitioners in making valuable decisions.