Laser Cavity Scanner

Cavities Can't Hide Anymore

Laser Cavity Scanner

The greatest advance in dental diagnostics since the x-ray, the Laser Scanner allows us to find cavities years before any other means of cavity detection, including the x-ray.

A painless laser scanner can detect decay earlier than ever before. It simply shines a harmless laser beam into the tooth and sends back a reading of hardness. We can find problems years before they show up on any x-ray.

Decay on Biting Surface
Back teeth have naturally occurring pits and grooves on biting surfaces.

These grooves are so narrow that a toothbrush bristle cannot reach to bottom of the groove. So, even when your kids brush well, they miss the small pits and fissures.

Decay is caused by bacteria that live in these pits and grooves. They eat sugar and then produce acid and toxins that breakdown the tooth. The bad thing is that cavities spread internally leaving the outside of the tooth looking normal. Research shows that 80% of all cavities start in the pits and grooves.

Does this tooth have decay?

No one can tell by just looking at it. X-rays can't pick up decay until the decay is very, very large. The only way to know for sure is to use the laser cavity scanner.

Cross section of tooth above. Yes! A cavity was lurking inside ready to eat away as much of the tooth as possible.

How Does the Laser Scanner Work?
The laser cavity scanner is a two-way handpiece sending laser light energy into the tooth and then laser light energy is reflected back with a reading of hardness of the tooth. Decay reflects differently than good, healthy tooth. With a better than 90% success rate, Dr. Cashion and Cr. Cody are able to diagnose decay early when it is the easiest to repair.

This picture shows a conventional probe checking a pit. It gets stuck and is unable to check inside the tooth where the decay is starting to grow.

This picture shows the laser cavity scanner. It is able to scan a harmless laser light beam into the tooth checking where the cavities begin.

Think about this – if we can find decay early, when it is a small hole and repair it using the Waterlase {link to Waterlase page} or Air Abrasion, we have probably saved that tooth from a crown and root canal later. Complications from large silver fillings have led to repairing teeth with crowns and root canals. The ability of the laser scanner has changed dentistry forever. We can now repair teeth with tiny, white fillings.

Where was this when we were kids?