Dentists someday will be able to use a light beam to identify the beginnings of tooth decay, reported George K. Stookey, Ph.D., at the 141st Annual Session of the American Dental Association in October.
"By the time a carious lesion currently can be detected on a patient’s tooth with a thorough clinical examination and a radiograph, that lesion may already have progressed halfway through the enamel," explained Dr. Stookey, associate dean of research at Indiana University School of Dentistry. "That lesion may have been in progress for a couple of years, and it’s then difficult to stop or reverse the decay process."
Dr. Stookey and a team of international researchers developed a wandlike device the size of a handpiece that contains a light source and a camera. Dentists can use the device to focus a high-intensity light beam on a tooth. The loss of calcium and phosphate from the tooth alters the pathway of the light beam, causing the reflectance properties to change. The camera detects the amount of light that is reflected and sends the information to a computer that captures the image and analyzes the spot to show how much calcium and phosphate have been lost.
If the dentist suspects that a patient may be at risk of developing caries, he or she can schedule a follow-up appointment a few months later. The same process is repeated, and the dentist can compare the two images to see if more decalcification has occurred.
"For the patients, this means that their dentists may detect these active caries lesions very early and in many cases, stop or reverse the process," said Dr. Stookey. By catching the decay process early, it may mean that patients will not have their teeth restored.
This process also may be used to detect very early lesions developing around existing restorations. In the future, it may help dentists reverse the disease process around the restoration, so it may not need to be replaced.
