The child patient presents a challenge to the dentist, who must solve the problems of today with an eye to the future and the dental health of an adult. The proper management of dental caries in clinical practice requires an accurate clinical diagnosis. If the caries disease can be diagnosed at an initial stage (e.g. white spot lesion) the balance can be tipped in favor of arrestment of the process by modifying diet, improving plaque control, and appropriate use of fluoride. Using noninvasive quantitative diagnostic methods it should be possible to detect lesions at an initial stage and subsequently monitor lesion changes over time during which preventive measures could be introduced. This literature review focusses on various caries diagnostic techniques in pediatric dentistry compiling all the conventional caries detection modalities and the recent advances along with the future perspective taking into consideration the recommendation and precautions to be taken for a child patient.