KaVo DIAGNOdent®

Detecting the Invisible

Cavities, unfortunately are a fact of life. They have been around since the beginning of time. These basic destructors of healthy teeth lurk and hide in all the crevices and niches of a tooth. Waiting, and growing larger and more insidious day by day. Often they continue to advance unnoticed until one day the patient has pain to sweets, or hot and cold. They present to their dentist who then takes an x-ray of the tooth, only to not have anything show up. Then the dentist resorts to that old time favorite......the "stick". You know what we are talking about here, the long sharp and pointed instrument that your dentist takes and "sticks" into the top of the tooth. He presses hard, and ouch!, that hurts! Yep he says, as he pulls back on the instrument, and as he does so, it feels as if the instrument was super glued to the tooth, we have a cavity here. Over and over again he pokes that ultra sensitive area, almost unable to believe there is a cavity there.

Today, we do not have to wait for the old fashioned "stick", nor does the patient have to wait until they have pain to realize that the tooth has decay present. Using the latest technology, the DIAGNOdent® early detection system by KaVo, cavities are found at their earliest stages of development, long before there is any pain at all.

How it works:  With of the increased use of fluorides and fluoridated waters, tooth enamel is becoming less prone to decay, and because of this most cavities start in the pit and fissures of a tooth. These grooves are sometimes so deep that they actually extend into the dentin or soft part of the tooth. However, the groove itself is so narrow that even a toothbrush bristle is too large to clean. Bacteria accumulates in the groove, and a cavity begins to grow. 

The DIAGNOdent is a precision laser that directs a concentrated fluorescent beam of light into the groove of the tooth. Healthy tooth will absorb this fluorescent light, while diseased tooth or cavities, will reflect the light. The tip of the laser is specially equipped to measure the amount of reflected light from the tooth. A computer then relays this information in the form of an audible pitch as well as a number reading. The larger the number, or higher the pitch, the more decay present in the groove. In most cases, the decay is at the earliest stages, and very little tooth structure is lost. This minimally invasive therapy permits adhesive bonded restorations that are not only esthetically beautiful, but healthier for the tooth.