How to Detect Tooth Decay ASAP

The premise for minimally invasive dentistry is, that the earlier we detect tooth decay (caries), the less invasive the treatment will be. Once the cavity is big enough that it presents itself with a gaping hole, cleaning out this much decay may not only result in loss of tooth structure, but also increase the chances of getting a root canal or a crown.
The goal is to detect decay before you can even see it with the naked eye, or even in some X-rays. X-rays are necessary but we expose the patient to some radiation. In pretty much every modern practice, including ours, digital x-rays with lower radiation exposure are used. The CariVu™ minimizes the number of X-rays needed to get proper diagnoses of the inner structures of the teeth.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just shine harmless light at the tooth and have it penetrate it similar to a light shining through an ice cube? In that ice cube you would notice anything that should not there – and we want to have something like that for a tooth.

With CariVu this now has become reality. If you ever played with a laser pointer, you probably used it on your hand and fingers and were surprised how deep it penetrates. In medicine this is used to detect abnormalities in organs by shining a strong light beam  at it and looking from the other side for any unusual absorption. This diagnostic is called transillumination.

With the new DEXIS CariVu™ a tiny laser shines on the tooth that reveals decay or cracks in many instances not even visible on Xrays. Mind you, it does not eliminate the need for Xrays altogether, it complements them and reduces the need for multiple Xrays. 

CariVu and Interoral Image

It is excellent on little kids who cannot tolerate the sensor in their mouths, or those who want to keep radiation exposure at a minimum. 

In the following video Dr. Lou Graham gives some more information how this works and how it’s used…

In Glendale, California you can now experience this very innovate diagnostic method at Dr. Sarkissian’s dental clinik – get in touch with us…

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