The Swedish version of the Cariogram was first launched officially in November 1997 after extensive trials. It has since then been translated into several languages to be used in different countries. It is our belief that the Cariogram, as an educational model, can be generalised. The main principles are "true" also in other societies. On the other hand, the "weights" used for the individual factors may be different in different countries. This means that the user of the program should always be observant to potential unexpected results in relation to his or her own clinical experience. The possibility to use one of the program's factors, the "clinical judgement of the operator" should therefore not be overlooked in this context.