Radiographic Diagnosis of Caries Flashcards
What is caries?
It is a multifactorial disease
What causes dental caries?
Lactic acid produced by bacteria decreases the pH of the mouth leading to demineralisation of enamel leading to caries and tooth decay
What factors are essential for caries formation?
- Tooth surface
- Bacteria
- Sugar
4, Time
How can carious lesions be classified?
- By their anatomical site
- By their activity
- By their level of disease
How can carious lesions be classified according to their anatomical site?
- Pits or fissures
- Smooth surface (gather around the gingival margin)
- Enamel
- Root
- Primary (on a new sound tooth surface)
- Secondary (the nits associated with a restoration)
- Residual
How can carious lesions be classified according to their activity?
- Active caries which can be rampant (affect all teeth) , bootle or early childhood
- Arrested or inactive
How can carious lesions be classified according to their level of disease?
D1
D2
D3
D4
Describe a D1 carious lesion
White/ opaque or brown lesion but the surface is hard and the occlusal surface is hard on probing
Describe a D2 carious lesion
Theres slight loss of surface
Sticky tissues
No dentin involvement
Describe a D3 carious lesion
Dentine involvement but not pulp
Describe a D4 carious lesion
Possible or definitive plural involvement
How are D1 and D2 lesions managed?
With preventative measures
How are D3 and D4 lesions managed?
They most likely need restorative treatment
How can dental caries be detected?
- Visual inspection
- Radiography
- Temporary tooth separation
- Fibreoptic transillumination (FOTI)
- Laser fluorescence
- Electrical conductance measurements
- Research techniques – e.g. MRI
What is the gold standard for caries diagnosis?
Visual inspection
How do we diagnose caries by visual inspections ?
We dry the tooth surface and then look at every tooth surface under good light
What is the most commonly used special test for caries detection?
Radiography
How is temporary elective tooth separation used to detect caries ?
It is where you use little orthodontic bands between the teeth to open up a contact point so that you can now see if theres any caries in that gap
How is Fibre-Optic TransIllumination (FOTI) used to detect caries ?
This is a process where you shine a bright light between the teeth
If you have a sound tooth surface light will spread and there’ll be a smooth colour
Where’ve their is caries there will be a distribution in the light
How is Fluorescence used to detect caries ?
You shine a light of a certain wavelength through a tooth and as the light passes through the substance you get some scattering and some absorption
As you get scattering the wavelength and colour of the light changes
Caries often fluoresces the most in comparison to dentine and enamel
Give the different types of radiographs we can take to diagnose caries
- Bitewings
- Periapicals
- Oblique lateral
- Panoramic
What is the gold standard when using radiographs for caries detection
Use bitewings
Why are bitewings the gold stander for radiographic caries detection
As you can see the crowns of all of the posterior teeth including the occlusal and inter proximal surfaces
How do you carry out a bitewing?
You place a single filler in the holder
Then place the holder in the patients mouth
The patient bites on the bite block and a radiographic image is produces
Which area of the mouth can you see when taking a bitewing?
You can see the from the mesial contact point of the first premolar to the most distal contact point in the mouth (2nd or 3rd molar)