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Diagnodent:
How it works
Diagnodent uses laser light to help
detect changes in tooth structure
which are displayed on a digital
scale readout.
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What
is the Diagnodent actually measuring?
It measures laser fluorescence within teeth. As the incident laser light is propagated into the site, two-way hand piece optics allows the unit to simultaneously measure the reflected laser light energy. |
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At the specific wavelength that the Diagnodent laser operates, clean healthy tooth structure exhibits little to no fluorescence, resulting in very low scale readings on the display. |
Proven
Accuracy:
In a study conducted by Dr. Lussi of Berne University, Switzerland, general dentists correctly diagnosed hidden fissure areas by visual inspection in only 57% of cases. The same group achieved an impressive success rate of 90% with Diagnodent. In fact, Diagnodent was far more accurate than any method in the study including bitewing x-rays. |
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| However, cavities, like the one above, will exhibit fluorescence in proportion to the size of the cavity. This results in higher scale readings on the display plus an audio signal allows the dentist to hear changes in the scale values. |
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Probing with the dental pick as in the above drawing was judged to find only 58% of cavities. See study results |
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