Diammine silver fluoride has been used for preventive therapy of dental caries in pediatric dentistry. However, dental caries are often difficult to identify by visual inspection.
Recently, a laser fluorescence system (DIAGNOdent®) has been developed. This laser system has higher diagnostic validity for the detection and quantification of varied lesions than an electronic caries monitor, and it has higher measurement reproducibility.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the laser diagnosis system to detect caries after diammine silver fluoride application.
Eight extracted teeth, which had occlusal dental caries as judged by visual inspection, were studied. A total 28 points were evaluated on the experimental teeth.
DIAGNOdent® values were measured before, immediately after, and at 1, 2, 5, and 7 days after drug application.
The DIAGNOdent® values were statistically decreased after treatment with diammine silver fluoride for all of the experimental teeth.
These results suggested that DIAGNOdent® was not able to detect the carious state after diammine silver fluoride application, however results were revealed reflected fluorescence on carious lesion, and statement of drug applications.
