Laser Fluorescence Caries Detection

Introducing a new tool at Suwanee Dental Care to help us detect the invisible. Diagnodent is a new technique in microdentistry that finds cavities that lie beneath the surface.

It helps detect dental caries at the earliest possible stage so that the most appropriate treatment can be designed for you.

More accuracy — less guesswork!

Measurements from Diagnodent, together with conventional diagnostic tools and valuable professional judgment, will help determine whether to monitor suspect areas over time and treat them with preventive therapy such as fluoride and sealants, or to restore them with minimally invasive techniques (micro-dentistry).

Diagnodent is the exciting result of years of research by leading dentists and scientists at universities in Switzerland, Scotland and Germany.

Let’s take an example.

Here’s an x-ray that shows hidden decay in the molar that was cross-sectioned. However, the x-ray doesn’t tell the whole picture.

Let’s dive deeper into the tooth. It is divided into cross-sections. We’ll look at cross-sections #1, #4, and #13.

In cross-section #1 of the molar, we see a medium cavity but with no visible opening in the tooth. In #4, the cross-section is of the molar showing the large cavity which is nearly into the nerve of the tooth but has a barely visible opening from the groove. Finally, cross-section #13 shows tiny opening from the pit of the tooth but a 12X larger cavity underneath the opening.

Cross-section of a molar

Cross section #1

Cross section #4

Cross section #13

Here’s a Dental Caries Study on why the dental pick is not enough.

Diagnodent: How it works

Diagnodent uses laser light to help detect changes in tooth structure which are displayed on a digital scale readout.

What is the Diagnodent actually measuring? It measures laser fluorescence within teeth. As the incident laser light is propagated into the site, two-way hand piece optics allows the unit to simultaneously measure the reflected laser light energy.

At the specific wavelength that the Diagnodent laser operates, clean healthy tooth structure exhibits little to no fluorescence, resulting in very low scale readings on the display.

Proven Accuracy

In a study conducted by Dr. Lussi of Berne University, Switzerland, general dentists correctly diagnosed hidden fissure areas by visual inspection in only 57% of cases. The same group achieved an impressive success rate of 90% with Diagnodent. In fact, Diagnodent was far more accurate than any method in the study including bitewing x-rays.

However, cavities, like the one above, will exhibit fluorescence in proportion to the size of the cavity. This results in higher scale readings on the display plus an audio signal allows the dentist to hear changes in the scale values.

Probing with the dental pick as in the above drawing was judged to find only 58% of cavities. See study results.

Diagnodent: Benefits to You

Is this just another gadget or an important scientific breakthrough?

• Sensitive: Diagnodent detects early cavities or sub surface lesions that are undiagnosed by conventional examination methods.
• Conservative: It avoids exploratory opening of suspect teeth, plus it eliminates unnecessary preparation while facilitating the use of micro-dentistry.
• Confidence: It improves dentist and patient confidence about treatment decisions.
• Safe: It uses light energy (i.e., no x-ray exposure), therefore no danger is posed to patient, dentist or staff.
• Easy to Use: Diagnodent is compact, portable, and user friendly.
• Quantifiable: Its precise, reliable measurement can monitor caries activity overtime.

Because We Can’t Treat What We Can’t See

Leaders in the field of caries research agree: conventional methods of caries diagnosis alone (like the dental pick shown in the drawing to the left) are inadequate and outdated for modern dentistry.

The key to why cavities have changed: With the fluoridation of water and improved oral hygiene standards the nature of caries has changed. Harder and more resistant enamel can conceal aggressive sub-surface decay.

Manual probing with an explorer is often an ineffective means to detect caries as the enamel defect may be too small or inaccessible to the explorer tip. Bitewing x-rays although effective in revealing advanced stages of decay, are unsuccessful in detecting early caries, especially in the complex anatomy of fissure areas.

Because 80% of caries occur in the occlusal (biting surface) anatomy it can remain virtually undetected with traditional diagnostic methods until significantly developed. The Diagnodent is a reliable, non-invasive supplement to the contemporary dentist’s arsenal of diagnostic procedures and is highly effective in detecting caries at an early stage where teeth are most vulnerable.

Welcome to a new era in dental diagnosis and high tech — soft touch at Suwanee Dental Care!