An Adjunctive Use of Photonic Dentistry in Cariology: Early Detection & Therapy
Despite considerable advances in dentistry, dental caries remains one of the most common and unsolved human infectious disease. Around 90% of young population in the United States has dental caries, while out of all dentate adults almost 94% have evidence of coronal caries. It was forecasted that such occurrence of dental caries is one the driver that propels the growing demand for dental services. There is an urge in demand of adjunctive use of photonic (laser and light) dentistry in a multidisciplinary, minimally invasive and preventive approach that would encourage regular patient attendance to allow for patient education, early caries detection and intervention. Researchers in 1940s demonstrated that by exposure to photons from the sunlight provided a mean of dental caries prevention. A survey of 12-14 years old boys in rural and semirural areas of the United States reported that a 30% increase in the annual exposure to sunshine correlated with a 40% reduction in the incidence of dental caries. Today, Photons technology underpins a wide range of adjunctive applications in daily dental practice from digital-light-processing 3D scanning, to fluorescent-guided caries and oral cancer early detection, and to photo-ablation, photobiomodulation, caries prevention, photo-activated-disinfection and esthetic therapy. The aim of this lecture is to present the “ABCD of light in Cariology”, an adjunctive use of photonic (laser and light) dentistry in a multidisciplinary, minimally-invasive and preventive approach that would encourage regular patient attendance to allow for patient education, early caries detection and intervention.
