RECENT ADVANCES IN DIAGNOSIS

IN DENTISTRY - A REVIEW.
Introduction:

Diagnosis is the procedure of accepting a patient, recognizing that he has a

problem, determining the cause of the problem, and developing a treatment plan that will
solve or alleviate the problem.

As noted by McLean, “The diagnosis and treatment of early dental caries

remains an area of controversy and arouses great emotion among
clinicians and academicians.

Pulp vitality test is crucial in monitoring the state of health of dental pulp, especially after
traumatic injuries. The newer pulp testing devices, detect the blood supply of the pulp,
through light absorption and reflection, are considered to be more accurate and non-invasive.

Discussion:

Magnification, caries detection devices, and improved access to enlarged radiographic

images help take the guesswork out of caries diagnosis. As is true in pulp testing, no one
test is perfect, but clinicians who use a combination of diagnostic measures and sound
clinical judgment can routinely achieve more accurate assessments of disease.

The following list outlines procedures for achieving an accurate diagnosis of caries in
fissures

(modified from Wilson and McLean):

1. Use magnifying loupes or intraoral camera magnification.

2. Use excellent lighting (operatory head lamp or fiber optic).

3. Clean and dry the teeth (ideally with an air abrasion cleaning device or a water
abrasion

device such as Prophy Jet [Dentsply/Caulk, Milford, Delaware, USA] or Prophy Flex
[KaVo,

Biberach, Germany]).

4. Use caries indicators and caries detection devices.

Detection of Dental Caries with devices:

1. Laser fluorescence

Quantitative light induced fluorescence: (QLF)

Laser fluorescence and dye-enhanced laser fluorescence are alternative techniques for
caries detection The DIAGNOdent (KaVo) is a laser fluorescence device. The device
contains a diode laser (such as those used in computer disc readers) that emits a pulsed
light of one specific wavelength directed onto a tooth, the light wavelength is consistent
until it encounters a change in tooth structure.

Changes in structure attributable to decay cause the light to refract (break up) and change
color (owing to a loss of energy, which results in a longer wavelength) . This changes the
pulse of fluorescent light reflected back to a sensor. The device translates these changes
into a qualitative reading that is subsequently displayed by the control unit and
interpreted as a numeric value from 1 to 99. When the unit shows a value of less than 30,
the tooth is usually sound. A sound signal can be correlated to the digital readout.

The device is easy to use and is calibrated to a standard, which allows comparison of
current readings to those of previous or subsequent patient visits.

Studies showed:
1.Accuracy of DIAGNOdent was significantly better than that of radiography for occlusal
lesions.

2.The device could diagnose pit and fissure lesions with 92% accuracy.

3.DIAGNOdent has higher diagnostic validity than the ECM for occlusal caries and good
in vitro reproducibility of findings.

2. Electronic Caries Monitor

The electronic caries monitor (ECM) (Lode Diagnostics, Germany),(Fig:3), measures a

tooth’s electric resistance during controlled air drying to determine its mineral content.

The electric resistance value of any given area of a tooth depends on the local porosity,
the amount of liquid present, the temperature, the mobility of the liquid, and the ion
concentration of the liquid. To avoid the influence of surface liquid (saliva), the ECM
technique involves drying the tooth surface using a standardized airflow procedure.
Interpreting the measurements is relatively complex since there is no standard
representing different levels of caries.

Studies suggest that ECM can be an accurate diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of early,
noncavitated occlusal lesions on posterior teeth.

Detection with chemical dyes

Dyes are a diagnostic aid for detecting caries in questionable areas (ie, for locating soft
dentin that is presumably infected)9. Fusayama introduced a technique in 1972 that used a
basic fuchsin red stain to aid in differentiating layers of carious dentin. Because of
potential carcinogenicity, basic fuchsin was replaced by another dye, acid red 52, which
showed equal effectiveness.

Products based on acid red 52 are marketed by a number of manufacturers e.g. Caries
Detector, Kuraray, Osaka, Japan. Many clinicians also have had good success with acid
reds 50, 51, 54, and other commercially available caries detectors. Some caries detection
products contain a red and blue disodium disclosing solution (eg, Cari-D-Tect, Gresco
Products, Stafford, Texas). These products stain infected caries dark blue to bluish-green.

Studies show dye stains are about 85% effective in detecting all caries in a tooth. Clinical
removal of caries without the aid of a dye is 70% effective.

How chemical dyes work:

Caries-detecting stains differentiate mineralized from demineralized dentin in both vital

and nonvital teeth. Outer carious dentin is stainable because the irreversible breakdown
of collagen cross-linking loosens the collagen fibers. Inner carious dentin and normal
dentin are not stained because their collagen fibers are undisturbed and dense. In other
words, dyes do not stain bacteria but instead stain the organic matrix of poorly
mineralized dentin.

Technique:

1. The area to be tested is rinsed with water and then blotted dry (excess water
dilutes a stain).
2. The tooth is treated with a 1% acid red 52 solution for 10 seconds.
3. The tooth is rinsed with water and suctioned and then excess water is removed.

After rinsing with water for 10 seconds, some tooth structure shows

Discoloration .

4. Stained decay is removed with a spoon excavator and evaluated by tactile

sensation.

When removing stained caries, it is important to be conservative near the pulp.

Any

questionable stained dentin should be left in place; remineralization will occur

 in this area, and

the bacterial activity will be arrested once the tooth is restored.

Detection with transillumination

Transillumination works best with longer wavelengths of light in the yellow and orange
range, because they have higher penetration properties. Blue light used for curing is the
least effective, owing to decreased penetration and increased scattering. Blue light should
be avoided, since it is harmful to the eyes. A major advantage of transillumination is that
the patient can easily see the problems that the practitioner is addressing. It can be used
as a screening device to determine if a radiograph is necessary.

Transillumination works best when a small light source is used in a dark field. The
optimal approach is to turn the operatory light away and use an incandescent yellow-to-
white light source about 1-mm wide. The most contrast is achieved when the light source
is placed against the side of the tooth that has the most enamel and then viewed from the
side of the tooth with the largest mass of restoration. In anterior teeth, the light source is
usually placed on the facial, and the dentist views from the lingual. Moving the light back
and forth improves the likelihood of detecting pathology.

Transillumination devices

There are many devices that can transilluminate a tooth. The standard light for a ear,
nose, and throat examination works well. Some composite curing lamps have filtered tips
that change the wavelength of light to yellow-orange so the lamp can be used for
transillumination. Small light probes used in electronics (that look like tiny flashlights)
also work well.

An easy-to-use alternative is the fiber optics built into most delivery systems for lighting
handpieces. Fiber optics yield an intense white light with a small spot-size.

Technique:
Remove the bur from the handpiece and turn the operatory light away. Then turn on the
fiber-optic light and use the handpiece as a light wand. It is best to place the light
opposite the tooth under inspection. Rotating the light source in a dark field can reveal
carious lesions, cracks, stains, and retained restorations. Headlamps should be turned off.

Indications:

1. Proximal caries

Transillumination is a good method of detecting proximal decay in anterior teeth .It is

less effective in detecting decay in premolars and molars. Transillumination is an
excellent adjunct to radiographs.

2. Effective in determining the extent of a lesion.

3. Caries under existing composite.

When a tooth is filled with a radiolucent composite, the best and usually the only method
of checking for decay is transillumination. Discoloration along the dentin–enamel
junction is usually decay, whereas uniform discoloration around a restoration can be
simply discoloration in the resin bonding agent.

Digital imaging fiber-optic transillumination

Principle:

Since a carious lesion has a lowered index of light transmission, an area of caries appears
as a darkened shadow.

Another option in transillumination, the Digital Imaging Fiber-Optic Transillumination

(DIFOTI) system from Electro-Optical Sciences Inc. (Irvington, New York), uses white
light, a CCD camera, and computer-controlled image acquisition and analysis to detect
caries.
The mouthpiece carries a single fiber-optic illuminator.

Directed toward a smooth surface of a tooth, the light travels through enamel and dentin
and scatters toward the tooth’s non illuminated areas. The CCD camera in the handpiece
digitizes the light emerging from the smooth surface opposite the illuminated surface or
the occlusal surface for real-time display on a computer monitor. Caries is detected via
computer analysis using dedicated algorithms.

The DIFOTI device has been tested by imaging teeth in vitro. The results suggest it can
sensitively detect proximal, occlusal, and smooth-surface caries.

Detection with digital radiographs

Digital intraoral radiographs have become available to the profession over the past
decade. Several studies have shown that, theoretically, direct digital radiography provides
a number of advantages when compared with conventional film. These include contrast
and edge enhancement, image enlargement, lower radiation dose, image compression,
and automated image analysis.

Digital radiology encompasses all the techniques that produce digital (or computerized)
images, as opposed to conventional radiology that uses x-ray film. Note that dental
radiology is currently limited to radiography, in other terms to one-shot images. Some
technologies would indeed allow the acquisition of a sequence of images, or even live x-
ray video such as radioscopy or fluoroscopy used in other medical fields. But dental
applications, which require the practitioner's hands be in the field of the acquired subject,
preclude the use of a continuous x-ray stream for obvious reasons.

Techniques:

There are three main techniques that are used in intraoral digital radiology: film scanners,
intraoral phosphor plates, and intraoral digital sensors. Other techniques such as digital
panoramic imaging or x-ray CT-scan are extraoral techniques available.
Film

Film scanners are not digital radiology devices per se, but produce digital images from x-
ray pictures nonetheless. They produce a digital image out of an existing film. This can
be done in two different manners: either by taking a digital photograph (very much like a
digital still camera) of a film or by scanning the film line by line (like a flat-bed scanner).
In either case, films have to be trans-illuminated because they do not reflect light as a
regular paper photo.

Intraoral storage phosphor plates

A phosphor plate reader works very much like a film scanner, except that the film is
replaced by a phosphor plate. A phosphor plate has the same size of dental film, but is
primarily made of a remanent phosphor layer that "remembers" the image, hence the
name of "storage plates".

In order to read out the image, phosphor plates need to be put into a phosphor plate
reader. What this device does is illuminate the plate by a tiny laser beam. When a portion
of the plate is illuminated, it emits light which is collected by a digital imaging device.

Phosphor plates are often referred to as "multiple-use films", because their shape looks
very much like intraoral film and therefore do not require any adaptation of the
positioning techniques and can be re-used a number of times.

The image is captured on a phosphor plate as analog information and is converted into a
digital format when the plate is processed.(Fig:9) Photostimulable phosphor radiographic
systems were first introduced in 1981 by the Fuji Corporation (Tokyo, Japan).

Intraoral digital sensors

A digital intraoral sensor is based on an "imager", or a silicon chip that permits the
acquisition of an image. Such a chip is constituted of a myriad of pixels, each pixel
capturing a small quantity of light and converting this light into electricity.

There are several technologies that are used to produce images. The two major ones are
CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) and CMOS. (Complementary Metal-Oxide
Semiconductor). They both convert photons into electrons.

The RVG is a digital sensor that allows the doctor to make intraoral radiographs images
without film. The sensor takes place the conventional dental film to make periapical,
occlusal or bite wing images.

The RVG system is composed of :

- A very small camera called the sensor that is designed to catch x-ray images into the
patient's month.

- An acquisition electronic device that can be integrated to a computer (PCI acquisition

board) or external (USB acquisition device).

- A software or external Dedicated software is in charge of displaying the image and

providing sophisticated digital tools.

- A set of various holders to place the sensor in the patient month according to different
radiological techniques.

- A x-ray generator of at least 70Kv (conventional or high frequency).

- A timer able to deliver very short x-ray doses (from 0.02 seconds) The timer can be
linked to the RVG system or operated without any link.

- A computer PC compatible

The timer drives( Fig: 10) the x-rays generator a very short pulse. The generator delivers
 a flash of x-rays.

The x-rays beam cross the object and reach the sensor.

The sensor catches the information immediately and turns it into electrical signal that is
sent to the computer.

The computer converts the information into digital image and displays it on the monitor.
The image is now a simple computer file that contains a radiological image. Digital filters
and contrast enhancement tools can be used to lead the doctor in is diagnostic. The image
is stored into the patient file and can be retrieved at any moment.

Advantages:

The RVG uses at the mean time the most standard principle of the conventional radiology
and the most advanced digital and electronic tools that allow:

- The total suppression of the film, which is replaced by the intraoral sensor.
Consequently that eliminates :

· the film processing drawbacks (chemical liquids to be changed from time to

time, loss of time while waiting the radio to be ready) that cause breaks during the
operating act.

· image distortions due to film bending.

· the dark room and bulky processing machine.

- Getting an instant X-ray image that provides to the doctor accurate clinical information
for his diagnostic

- Up to 90% X-ray doses reduction compared to standard film. Only a few tenth of
seconds are necessary to take an x-ray image.
- Unparalleled diagnostic capabilities thanks to:

· the high resolution of the image (over 20 line pairs per mm) which is the
only condition for the image to contain accurate clinical details.

· the display of the image in scale one to the monitor.

· a wide scale of grey shades contained into the image. A human eye is able
to see a maximum of +/-60 different greys, whereas the sensor catches up to 4096. The
digital tools will adapt this too large grey shade scale to the human eye capabilities. The
doctor has several investigation levels according to what he is wishing to observe. Still
the image remains with the full original information to operate various investigations
when required.

· the ultimate imaging filter, sharpness filter, pre-programmed modes (Endo,

Paro, Dentine to Enamel Junction) and high light tool. These filters and tools will
enhance the global or local contrast of the image in order to focus the diagnostic on a
particular part of the image.

· a measurement tool that allow the doctor to know the length of a canal, a
bone crest The accuracy and reliability of the measurement depends on the positioning
technique in use as well as the calibration of the measurement tool. So far, the most
accurate measurements are only available with scanner images.

· the display of several image at once on the screen allows instant

comparison.

- An improved communication between the doctor and the patient thanks to clear images
easy to show and to explain.

- A tremendous booster for the dental practice’s fame additionally to a improved working
comfort, and time savings.
 Digital Subtraction Radiography

For years dentistry has dealt with the problem of no quantitative measures to determine the
success

of a particular treatment. When evaluating bone height, changes can be masked by disparities

in projection geometry. Digital subtraction radiography is a technique that allows us to

determine quantitative changes in radiographs. The premise is quite simple. A radiographic

image is generated before a particular treatment is performed. At some time after the
treatment,

another image is generated. The two images are digitized and compared on a pixel-by-pixel
basis.

The resultant image shows only the changes that have occurred and “subtracts“ those
components

of the image that are unchanged.

DICOM Standard

Medical imaging has dealt with many of the issues that confront digital dental imaging.
Medical

radiologists found that many of their imaging systems could not communicate with each
other.

Most manufacturers had their own proprietary software and file types that were not
compatible

with those of other manufacturers. This led to the development of the DICOM Standard.
DICOM

stands for Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine. The current version is 3.0.
The DICOM 3.0 standard addresses the need for standardized formats so digital
information can

be transferred to remote sites as well as local work stations. Dentistry is beginning to

recognize