The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It's not uncommon for this generation of kids to go through their entire childhoods without ever having a cavity. This is thanks to better dental knowledge and prevention, regular visits to the dentist and proper use of fluoride. And even if a cavity does start to form, dentists have new techniques within their arsenals to help reverse the decay process ? allowing the tooth to heal itself, or "remineralize", so that a filling is not needed. But in order to make the most of remineralization opportunities, it's essential to identify the very earliest stages of tooth decay - before any serious damage has been done. According to an article in the September issue of the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, there are several emerging and innovative technologies that assist dentists to spot very early signs of tooth decay. With names like DIAGNODent, DiFOTI and QLF, the new techniques use cutting edge technology including fluorescence and transillumination to identify potential problems. Some are able to assess and measure the tiniest loss in tooth structure. Others look for the presence of cavity-accompanying bacteria. "What we're seeing now is an emergence of new technologies that allow dentists to detect very small carious lesions and track them numerically over time", said co-author Dr. Iain Pretty, adding "We found that they all have strengths ? the ultimate selection of a system depends on the diagnostic issues that individual dentists face." The tried and true techniques of physical examination combined with x-rays are still very effective methods of detecting cavities, and are not expected to be immediately replaced by the new techniques. "What we're more likely to see is a gradual shift towards these new detection techniques as a part of the continual evolution in dental care," said Dr. Pretty. "As dentistry makes a shift to less invasive techniques overall, these new caries-detection systems add another element to the equation." If a dentist detects an early caries warning sign, its development may be monitored from visit to visit. In some cases, the natural healing properties of saliva may be enough to reverse the damage. If it progresses, dentists may use fluoride or other interventions to assist the tooth to remineralize.
