Introduction. Caries and complications of it is the most common dental disease in the world, which leads to the destruction of the hard tissues of the teeth, to the violation of occlusion, development of deform-ities and other complications. After endodontic treatment, restoring the anatomical shape and function of the affected teeth, especially the lateral ones, with composites is not always effective since the amount of remaining hard tissue and occlusal surface area are significantly reduced. In such situations it is more expedient to use methods of orthopedic dentistry in the form of various types of microprostheses - inlays (I.F. Valeev, 2004; N.G. Abolmasov et al. 2007; V.V. Matrosov, 2021). Aim of study. To determine the relevance of the use of inlays in modern dentistry. To carry out a comparative characterization of dental prosthetics with inlays and alternative methods of treatment. Methods and materials. For searching and analysing available literature on the subject- treatment of dental hard tissue defects and the comparative characteristics of various methods of restoration, was used Internet information search databases: CyberLenincka - 46 scientific articles (11 sources selected); Rus-sian State Electronic Library - 143 sources (6 sources selected). A total of 17 sources were select-ed for study, including protocols, recommendations, monographs, articles. Results. A review of the literature on inlay treatment methods showed: 1. The most common method of restoring defects in the crown of teeth, is the "direct method", with the use of various restorative materials. However, studies show that despite the improvement of dentistry, the issue of marginal adhesion of filling materials remains relevant, indicating the low quality of tooth restoration (D. A. Nikolaev, 2015; A. A. Shuraev, M. M. Badrutdinov, 2017). 2. Most authors highlight that the best material that meets the given quality criteria for restoration is ceramic. 3. During the studying of the literature on the topic of research, it was revealed a lack of information about the using technique, rules, step-by-step description of planning and preparation of hard dental tissues for inlays. Conclusion. Treatment of teeth with inlays is very relevant, due to the number of indications and advantages of this method of treatment over the "direct" method of restoration. The most adequate method of treatment with teeth with elevated IDOST (index of destruction of the occlusal surface of the tooth according to V.Y. Milikevich, 1984) is the inlay, as it is able to minimise the drawbacks that are available with restorative composites.