June 10, 2013

No More “Surprise” Cavities!

Did you know that traditional exams miss 76% of the most common cavities? It’s probably happened to you. You’d been taking great care of your teeth — brushing often, flossing carefully and seeing us regularly. Then suddenly (usually after several really good check-ups) we find a BIG cavity — one that needs attention right away. 

 

And I’ll bet you asked yourself how that could possibly happen.

 

Actually, there’s a simple answer to your question. You see the kind of “pick and explorer” exam dentists did when we were kids — and in many cases still do now — misses most common kind of cavities.1 So tiny, easy to fix cavities have a chance to grow and become very unpleasant surprises. 

 

Fortunately, today there’s a better way to find cavities — an FDA approved laser cavity detector that allows us to find over 90% of cavities 2, even extremely small ones.

 

Hard-to-find Cavities

You see, with the old kind of exam, dentists used picks and mirrors to probe the surface of teeth looking for places where the probe stuck. But, given the fact that the surfaces of most teeth are already uneven and filled with natural “fissures” it was easy for cavities to hide deep below the depths of the fissures... where the traditional explorer or pick simply cannot reach.

 

It’s a problem that’s actually worse today than it used to be because modern cavities are different.

 

In the past, decay attacked the enamel first, creating damage a pick could often detect. Now, however, thanks to fluoride in our water, toothpaste and rinses, tooth enamel is a good bit stronger. As a result, the bacteria that cause tooth decay now form tiny, hard to find holes in the enamel, then work their way down to the softer dentin inside the tooth. So a lot of damage can take place long before the cavity can be detected by the pick or explorer.  

 

Some patients have asked why we need the laser cavity finder when “x-rays” can see right through the tooth. Unfortunately, even today’s most technologically advanced x-ray systems are unable to assist us in locating cavities deep in the fissures of teeth until long after the cavity has grown to considerable size, in some cases nearing the nerve.

 

Today’s Better Way

Laser cavity finders, like the one we use at our office, use a totally different strategy to diagnose cavities.

 

They take advantage of the fact that laser light shines through healthy teeth but has difficulty penetrating decayed areas. When the laser encounters a suspicious area it beeps and gives me a digital readout of what it’s found.

 

What’s more, because it uses laser light rather than a metal probe it can actually “see” into tiny holes in your enamel to detect the decay below.

 


  1. Validity of probing for fissure caries diagnosis: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Validity+of+probing+for+fissure+caries+diagnosis
  2. DIAGNOdent: http://www.ada.org/4480.aspx?productid=278&catid=42