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.
David S.
Humerickhouse, D.D.S., Inc.
Diagnodent is used by
Dr. David Humerickhouse.
To schedule an
appointment, call
(559) 688-8069.
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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."
By
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.
