[Academic recommendations on the need for treating carious deciduous molars and canine teeth in elementary school children--results of a survey of university dental clinics].

Supplying recommendations for dental treatment to primary school children with decayed deciduous molars and canines by the Public Health Service may cause conflicts. An inquiry by letter was performed to look for a consensus concerning the degree of necessity of the treatment of decayed deciduous teeth. The German dental clinics who answered the questions unanimously disapproved the "Retaining" of decayed deciduous molars and canines without treatment; most of them recommended a conservative therapy until shortly before they become physiologically defunct, or, alternatively, the removal of the decayed teeth.