Minimally Invasive Dentistry

The MID can be defined as "A philosophy of professional care concerned with first occurrence, earliest possible cure of disease on micro (molecular) levels, followed by minimally invasive and patient friendly treatment to repair irreversible damage caused by such disease."The MID includes the following principles: Early caries diagnosis and assessment of caries activity, the classification of caries depth and progression using radiographs, the assessment of individual caries risk (high, moderate, low), the arresting of active lesions, the remineralization and monitoring of noncavitated lesions, the placement of restorations in teeth with cavitated lesions using minimal cavity designs, and assessing disease management outcomes at preestablished intervals. Disease eradication and regular follow-up form the cornerstone of MID.