In which phase of the treatment plan are carious lesions restored?

Correct answer: A. The disease control phase

• A. CORRECT. Caries removal and provisional or definitive restoration belong to the DISEASE CONTROL phase, whose purpose is to halt active disease and stabilise the mouth. Alongside caries management it includes scaling and root planing, extraction of hopeless teeth, endodontic therapy, and instituting preventive measures. Only when disease is arrested and the response assessed does definitive care begin.
• B. The systemic or emergency phase addresses medical management and the relief of acute pain, swelling and infection — it precedes disease control.
• C. The maintenance phase is the ongoing recall, monitoring and preventive care that follows completion of definitive treatment.
• D. The definitive phase covers the reconstructive work — crowns, bridges, implants, removable prostheses, orthodontics, definitive periodontal surgery — undertaken once the mouth is stable.

Note: The sequence to memorise: SYSTEMIC/EMERGENCY → DISEASE CONTROL → RE-EVALUATION → DEFINITIVE → MAINTENANCE. The RE-EVALUATION step between disease control and definitive care is the one candidates most often omit, and it is where you decide whether the patient has actually responded well enough to justify complex restorative work.