Laser Assisted Cavity Detection System
When a dentist examines your teeth, we are constantly confronted with decisions. A very common decision for us to make is whether a stain is a cavity. Very often, stains are OK, and do NOT need to be treated. However, if we are unsure about a particular stain, we may indicate in your chart to “keep an eye” on it. If it gets larger, then we treat it. Unfortunately, by the time we get around to treating these stains that are actually cavities, the filling becomes larger than was originally necessary. Thanks to another technological advance, we can now determine if a stain is a cavity that requires treatment. Cavities fluoresce. The laser is measuring the amount of fluorescence. If the reading on our instrument is high enough, we know the stain is a cavity, and requires treatment. Another amazing thing about picking up these cavities when they are this small is that we can usually restore them with air abrasion! This means no novocaine and no drills!