DIAGNOdent
Detecting the invisible
If you cannot detect the disease, how can you treat it?
Dentists often experience anxiety when attempting to diagnose the phenomenon known as hidden caries. A suspicious-looking tooth presents a treatment dilemma for dentists. Should the tooth be opened up? What if no caries is found? Should the tooth just be watched, or does that give caries more time to destroy the tooth's surface?
A changing caries model: due to floridation, caries has gone "underground". While helping to improve the oral health of many Americans, fluoridation has resulted in harder tooth enamel. Incipient caries lesions that once began on the tooth's surface have no migrated below the surface.
Proven clinical results: Treatment decisions require a higher degree of certainty. The DIAGNOdent laser caries detection aid removes the doubt from treatment decisions regarding hidden caries ore questionable stained grooves. The device's ability to see into occlusal pits and fissures enables dentists to treat sub-surface caries lesions with confidence.
Benefits to you and your patients
- Permits use of minimally invasive treatments without unnecessary preparation - ideal adjunct to air abrasion and micro rotary instruments.
- For the first time, allows the quantification of caries activity over time with a precise and reliable measurement.
- Reproducible results permit checking, stabilization and documentation of caries.
- Ideal device for the hygienist to detect suspicious areas needing further examination.
- Is conservative by avoiding "exploratory" excavation of suspect teeth.
- Extremely accurate diagnostic aid. Proven to be over 90% accurate.
- Early detection of pathological changes that are undiagnosed by conventional examination methods (e.g. initial lesions, demineralization and changes in the enamel, fissure caries).
- No scratching probe: simple, fast and painless examination.
- Increases operator and patient confidence about treatment decisions due to accurate visual and acoustic representation of measured values.
- No x-ray exposure. Practice building, revenue enhancing.
- High level of patient acceptance and satisfaction.
Over 90% accurate
Proportion of "correct diagnoses" using various diagnostic methods (in the case of seemingly intact occlusal surfaces).
In a study conducted by Dr. Lussi of Berne University, Switzerland, general practitioners correctly diagnosed hidden fissure areas by visual inspection in only 57% of all cases. The same group achieved an impressive success rate of 90% with the DIAGNOdent. In fact, DIAGNOdent was far more accurate than any other method in the study including bitewing X-rays.
Teeth with dentin caries and intact occlusal surface. Source: Lussi et al, Quintessenz 54, 10 2003