Objective: to quantify the percentages of Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN) dentists who report using a caries-risk assessment protocol. DPBRN is a group of outpatient dental practices that have affiliated to investigate research questions (n=1166). DPBRN comprises 5 participating groups: AL/MS: Alabama/Mississippi, FL/GA: Florida/Georgia, HP/MN: dentists employed by HealthPartners and from the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, PDA: Permanente Dental Associates in cooperation with Kaiser Permanente Northwest Research Foundation, and SK: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Methods: A survey was sent to all DPBRN member dentists who perform restorative dentistry in their practices (n=915). The questions asked if caries risk was assessed in any form, and which criteria are used in caries risk assessment (e.g. presence of active caries lesions, past caries experience, presence of existing restorations, oral hygiene, diet, salivary function, patient's age, social-economic status, etc.). Exact binomial confidence intervals were calculated for the percentage of dentists who include caries risk assessment as part of patient's treatment planning process. Chi-square statistics were used to analyze the relationships between caries risk-assessment methods and dentist and practice characteristics. Results: The majority of (69% [95% CI: 65%,73%]) assess caries risk for individual patients. Among those dentists, only 18 percent ([95% CI: 15%,21%],n=63) use a caries risk assessment form. Dentists with fewer years in practice assessed caries risk more often than those with more years of experience (p<0.01). AL/MS and FL/GA regions assessed caries risk significantly less than HP/MN, PDA, and SK regions (p<.0001). Conclusion: The use of caries risk assessment by dentists varies substantially by years of experience and among network regions. Support: NIDCR-NIH U01-DE 16746 and NIDCR-NIH U01-DE 16747