| | |
|
Electrical conductance (fixed frequency) method
30-03-2010
Electrical conductance (fixed frequency) method Electrical methods of caries diagnosis are not new. There has been recent revival of interest in fixed frequency electrical devices, which show considerable promise for detection of occlusal and approximal lesions. A device is now commercially available in The Netherlands; similar machines were produced in the United States and in Japan some years ago. The electrical detection methods are seen by many as having the greatest potential for significantly improving diagnostic performance in the years to come. For occlusal surfaces, the commercially available fixed frequency devices have repeatedly shown high sensitivity and specificity for enamel lesions. For lesions in dentin, sensitivity is high, although specificity is only moderate. There are special difficulties in applying this method to approximal surfaces, but recent data show that these can be overcome and that sensitivity is high at both the D1 and D3 levels. Specificity appears to be high at the D1 level, but may be a little lower (moderate) for D3 (Pitts et al, 1995).
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Articles for theme "caries":
| | |
|
|
30-03-2010
Fiber-optic transillumination methodFiber-optic transillumination is a development of a classic diagnostic aid, advocated some 20 years ago, which has never gained wide acceptance. However, it should be a regularly used tool for diagnosis of caries, in the incisor and premolar regions at least, to supplement clinical examination and bitewing radiographs. Fiber-optic transillumination has enjoyed variable success in studies evaluating its performance, possibly because of failure to appreciate that the technique, like any other, requires an extended learning phase.
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
30-03-2010
Computer-aided radiographic methodComputer-aided radiographic methods exploit the measurement potential of computers in assessing and recording lesion size. In the new Trophy 97 system an artificial intelligence software (Logicon Caries Detector) is integrated: Approximal carious lesions are diagnosed and evaluated with the aid of a unique histologic database, allowing graphic visualization of the size and progression of the lesion (Figs 197a to 197c).At both the D1 and D3 thresholds, computer-aided methods offer high levels of sensitivity for approximal lesions.
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
30-03-2010
Digital radiographic methodDigital, filmless, techniques for intraoral radiography have been developed for several important reasons:1. Conventional film absorbs only a few percent of the x-rays that reach it, utilizing very little of the radiation to which the patient has been exposed.2. Poor darkroom procedure can lead to both unnecessarily high doses of radiation and loss of diagnostic information.3. Development of films is time consuming, and the developer and fixing solutions are hazardous to the environment.
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
29-03-2010
Conventional bitewing radiographic methodSeveral factors have contributed to the general adoption of radiographic examination as an aid to the detection and subsequent treatment of caries:1. It discloses sites inaccessible to other diagnostic methods. Radiography facilitates detection of carious lesions at an earlier, potentially reversible stage. Usually, more approximal and occlusal lesions are recorded when clinical examinations are supplemented by radiography. 2. The depth of the lesion can be evaluated and scored, eg, by the radiographic index by Grondahl et al (1977), modified from Moller and Poulsen (1973): 0 = no radiographic changes in enamel; 1 = radiographic changes in enamel; 2 = radiolucency extending to the dentinoenamel junction; 3 = radiolucency penetrating approximately halfway through dentin; and 4 = radiolucency close to the pulp.
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
|
29-03-2010
Visual method with temporary elective tooth separation and impression of the approximal lesionTemporary elective tooth separation, complemented by a localized impression of the opened interproximal space, allows a more sensitive diagnosis of cavitation than does the purely visual separation method. This also has the advantage of providing a replica as a reference for visual monitoring of changes in size or even measurement of serial impressions (Neilson and Pitts, 1993; Seddon, 1989).
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
