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Keeping A Healthy Smile
Laser Can Find Cavities
Early
BOSTON, Updated 6:47 p.m. EDT September 19, 2000 --
Dentists are using a new technology that can detect a weakness
in a tooth before it becomes a cavity. That could mean no more
Novocain shots and no more drills.
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Laser Cavity Detector
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Diagnodent
The device is a compact diode laser used to identify
areas of tooth decay that traditional means, including
X-rays, miss.
Diagnodent shines a laser beam down into the tooth,
to a depth of 2.5 mm.
The device is aimed into the grooves of teeth,
providing a decay reading to the dentist.
Laray Rector, DDS
Diagnodent is used by Dr. Laray Rector.
To schedule an appointment, call
(931) 359-1900
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NewsCenter 5's Heather Kahn reports that Diagnodent is a new
laser which finds hard-to-spot areas of tooth decay.
"It puts out a laser beam down into the tooth, and that light
reflects back towards the laser," Dr. Tom Orent of the Center
for Esthetic Dentistry said. "If there's decay, there's a change
in the wavelength. You get a reading from zero to 100 and are
able to tell not only where the decay is, but how deep it is,
how much decay there is."
Orent said that regular dental exams and X-rays can miss as
much as three-quarters of decay. One Swiss study showed that
dental exams using a pick detected 57 percent of problems, while
Diagnodent caught 90 percent of decay.
"Certainly we'll see decay if it's large, but it's too late,"
Orent said. "At that point, you're looking at a very difficult
restoration, a large filling or in some cases even root canal."
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catching the decay early, dentists have a number of tools that
can get rid of it, without Novocain or drilling. Other dentists
say that more research is needed before Diagnodent is used in
most dental offices, but they do agree that the technique is an
exciting adjunct to X-rays and examination.
"The thing I like about it and is promising is that it is not
invasive," Dr. Fred Boustany of Boston Dental said. "It provides
object measurement of the decay inside the tooth."
That's good enough to keep patient Rosemary Casey smiling.
"I think it's great, because you want to keep your teeth as
long as you can," Casey said.
Diagnodent is FDA-approved.
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