Dental Caries is a multifactorial disease. Consequently, in many dental schools the teaching of cariology has been hopelessly fragmented, with a little information included in each of the basic science courses. Cariology is a sophisticated and comprehensive text. It is intended for students who have already completed courses in general biochemistry, histology, microbiology, nutrition, and pharmacology. Preferably a course using this text should be taught before students start clinical dentistry. It can serve to bridge the gap between the basic science and clinical courses. Each chapter concludes with a series of questions (objectives) intended to help students test their understanding of the subject. A list of selected readings suggests major reviews or books for further study. In addition, there is a comprehensive bibliography based on original research relevant to each section. Thus, each chapter provides information at several levels. For the beginning student the contents of each chapter should suffice, while for the advanced or graduate student there are abundant references for more detailed study.

During the past decade, dental research has undergone unprecedented growth, as reflected by the large number of abstracts (now exceeding 2,000) presented annually at the meetings of the International Association for Dental Research. Accordingly, any textbook in dentistry requires periodic updating in order to remain current. In this edition, every chapter has undergone some degree of revision. Not only the text, but also many tables and figures have been updated.

As an oral biologist, I have attempted a multidisciplinary presentation of the available knowledge of cariology, crossing the borders of biochemistry, epidemiology, histopathology, immunology, microbiology, nutrition, and physiology. In these days of scientific specialization, conventional wisdom would suggest that such a text be written by a group of expert contributors from various fields.