Final Flashcards
What percentage of adults have decay?
Half.
What percentage of restorations are replacements? What is the reason for those replacements?
Half. Due to caries.
What is the cycle of caries?
Caries, remineralization, sound enamel, demineralization.
What are the traditional methods for caries detection and diagnosis?
Visual, radiographs, tactile feel.
What are the 4 stages of radiographic caries?
- Incipient, barely into enamel.
- Moderate, almost to the dej.
- Advanced, past the dej.
- Severe, almost to the pulp.
Non-surgical model vs. Surgical model of treatment of dental caries
Non-surgical: Treating the disease as an infection.
Surgical: Cutting the tooth to remove the disease, then restoring.
What are the conventional signs of caries?
Color: White spot lesions, yellow, brown, etc.
Surface character: dull, chalky, rough, and/or cavitated.
Texture: Sticky/soft.
How can you assess the activity of the lesion?
Plaque stagnation area? Effect of dehydration?
Sensitivity vs. Specificity
Sensitivity measures the proportion of actual positives which are correctly identified. Specificity measures the proportions of negatives which are correctly identified.
LOWER ON DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHS.
What are some limitations of radiographs?
In cannot diagnose lesion activity. It is not able to detect early subsurface demineralization.
Foti and DiFoti
Fiber Optic Transillumination and Digital Fiber Optic Transillumination. Uses Visible light. Helps descriminate between early enamel and early dentine lesions. Can be used for the detection of caries on all surfaces. The system is subjective rather than objective and the DiFoti software is unable to quantify the image.
Diagnodent
Laser Fluorescence measurement. Lasersss!
It produces an excitation wavelength of 655 nm. PRODUCES SOMETHING??? and MEASURES SOMETHING????? Teeth need to be clean and dry. Not employed in a clinical trial
ECM
Electrical current conductance measurement.
Employs a single, fixed-frequency alternating current. May be more suitable for dentine.
What can affect ECM results?
Tooth temperature. Tissue thickness. Material hydration. Surface area.
What happens during demineralization?
Caclium and H2Po4 leave and H+ (acid) diffuse in. H+ is primary driving force. Ambient fluoride inhibits dissolution.
What happens during remineralization?
The reverse. H+ comes out and Ca and H2PO4 goes in. Mineral ion diffusion is primary driving force and ambient F induces mineral precipitation.
What are Fluoride mechanisms?
- Promotes remineralization.
- Stabilizes the tooth structure by stopping erosion.
- Inhibits dental plaque bacteria metabolism thus reducing the amount of acid produced.
- Slows demineralization.
- Converts tooth apatite to fluoroapatite, a much less soluble mineral.
What is the level of water fluoridation?
0.7 ppm F. Reduces caries by 18 to 40%.
