Methods: Forty (40) extracted human teeth having unstained, carious white spots were selected. Twenty (20) smooth-surface white-spot lesions and twenty (20) occlusal white-spot lesions were imaged with the investigational device. The fluorescence loss percentage value in a small area within the region of each white-spot lesion was automatically calculated by the device’s software. After imaging, a tooth section was carefully taken from the quantified area on each white spot and processed for transverse microradiography (TMR) analysis to determine mineral loss and lesion depth. One and two samples were lost from the occlusal and smooth-surface groups, respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (R2) were calculated between the set of fluorescence loss values calculated by the investigational device and the sets of mineral-loss and lesion-depth values generated from TMR analysis. P-values were also determined to test for statistical significance of the results.
Results:
Surface type |
R2 between mineral loss and fluorescence loss |
P-value |
Smooth Surface (N = 18) |
0.683 |
<0.005 |
Occlusal Surface (N = 19) |
0.202 |
<0.250 |
Surface Type |
R2between lesion depth and fluorescence loss |
P-value |
Smooth Surface (N = 18) |
0.539 |
<0.025 |
Occlusal Surface (N = 19) |
0.325 |
<0.100 |
Conclusions:
The study demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between the demineralization level of white-spot lesions on smooth tooth surfaces and fluorescence loss percentage as calculated by the investigational device, but no such correlation was found on the occlusal surface. Correlation between the depth of white-spot lesions on smooth surfaces and calculated fluorescence loss was also found to be significant but not as strong as that between mineral loss and calculated fluorescence loss.