Diagnosis of Dental Caries - Paperback

by Rinky Sisodia M. D. S. (Author)

The pattern of dental caries is changing, with an increasing incidence in occlusal surfaces. This shift has rendered traditional detection systems, particularly bitewing radiographs less useful in the diagnostic protocols of clinicians. High concentration fluoride varnishes have been demonstrated to arrest the progression of early lesions, but often traditional methods of detection are too insensitive to permit the most efficacious use of these products. Caries clinical trials involving thousands of subjects over several years employ are no longer commercially viable. For all of these reasons, there is a real need for a range of caries detection and quantification systems to augment the clinician's diagnostic pathway. The evidence supporting each of the systems is currently limited; often by virtue of the in vitro nature of the studies, or due to a failure of standardization of approach to study design making meta-analyses impossible. However, if we can state with some confidence that the systems do permit earlier detection of enamel lesions, and systems such as QLF and DiFOTI enable images of these lesions to be stored and viewed at a later date. It is worthwhile considering what the purpose may be for supplementing or even replacing well established dental diagnostic systems; they must offer improved diagnostic efficiency, better patient care pathways or perhaps comply with legislative changes. There is a paradigm shifty occurring in dentistry; we are slowly moving away from a surgical model into one more medically based.