Coronal caries

While there are several types of carious lesions that can be diagnosed microscopically and clinically, at this dental school two types of carious lesions are recorded: non-cavitated and cavitated lesions.

Non-cavitated lesions as in the photograph below

have early signs of demineralization (Table 1) but without any visible loss of tooth structure, i.e. cavity. The clinical characteristics of non-cavitated lesions differ based on whether they are located in smooth or pit-and-fissure tooth surfaces. Non-carious teeth are also classified into two types: sound or questionable (Table 1).