August 10, 2005

By: Sophie Griffin
Website: http://www.teeth-whitening-smiles.com

Cavity Detecting Laser – Discovering Cavities More Accurately

A great deal of trust goes into a relationship between a dentist and a patient, so many patients would be surprised to find that the way their dentist currently tries to detect cavities is not the most effective method available. Discovering this information can be alarming, but detecting cavities is easier than ever with a new tool recently approved by the FDA for dentist to use in finding cavities. A cavity detecting laser called DIAGNOdent has been used in many dental practices in Europe for several years with great success. Now dentists can use cavity detecting lasers in the US for more a more accurate diagnosis when examining the mouth for a cavity.

The traditional way dentists were finding cavities involved poking and a light scraping motion on the surface of the teeth, but the surface alone isn’t enough to detect a cavity. With a number of products that have fluoride in them including toothpaste, mouthwash and even bottled water, the structure of teeth has changed over the years so that the outer covering of a tooth is strong and solid. What a dentist cannot detect with the traditional way of finding cavities is any decay that has started underneath the surface of the tooth. A cavity will often begin inside of a tooth and work its way out making it almost impossible to find before it reaches the surface until now.

With the new DIAGNOdent laser, cavities can be detected well before destroying the surface of the tooth. Lasers are less intruding tools for dentists to use on the mouth and often don’t cause any discomfort in dental patients. This is true of the DIAGNOdent laser, as it examines the surface of each tooth with a painless laser. The diagnosis is easy to read as the laser will send a reading to the main unit using a color indicator to show when the unit is detecting a cavity.

Finding a cavity in its early stages by using a laser can offer dental patients a number of benefits. When a cavity is caught early and less decay has occurred, the dentist will most likely have to do less drilling. The less drilling the dentist has to do mean less discomfort and potentially a lower dental bill for the patient. Visiting a dentist that uses reliable and effective lasers to detect cavities before they appear on the surface of the tooth would be beneficial for any patient.

Author Notes:

Sophie Griffin contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.teeth-whitening-smiles.com.  She has recently graduated from college, and is now studying as a dental hygenists. Sophie plans to continue her career in dental sales, specializing in whitening and cosmetic dentistry.