Detecting Caries by Diagnodent

Method: A search was performed using the keywords ^" caries" and ^"diagnodent^" to identify the current literature on the detecting caries. The related articles were searched in databases including IDL, Pubmed, IDL, and Medline from 2005 to 2010.

Result: At the specific wavelength that the DIAGNOdent laser operates, clean healthy tooth structure exhibits little or no fluorescence, resulting in very low scale readings on the display. However, carious tooth structure will exhibit fluorescence, proportionate to the degree of caries, resulting in elevated scale readings on the display of the diagnodent. An audio signal allows the operator to hear changes in the scale values.

 Conclusion: The authors concluded from their literature that the DIAGNOdent is more sensitive (i.e., detecting caries when it actually exists) than traditional diagnostic methods. However, the device is less specific (i.e., not detecting caries when it does not actually exist) than visual methods, leading to potentially more false-positive diagnoses. Unfortunately, a false-positive diagnosis of dentinal caries may lead to tooth preparation with irreversible damage. DIAGNOdent should not be relied upon as a clinician’s primary diagnostic tool. Clinicians could use the device after visual/tactile examinations to provide additional information to identify surfaces with demineralization to signal the use of preventive services.