High Tech Video Dental Examinations

"Why you should have a video exam of old, leaky, silver fillings"

Using the dental pick to look for decay is not only unpleasant, scary and old fashioned, it doesn't work. Using the dental pick to look for decay in teeth that have never been decayed, or in teeth that have old silver fillings, will miss more decay than it finds.

One of the greatest dangers to people is the menace of the leaking silver fillings. The public and much of the dental profession at large is completely unaware that hundreds of millions of old silver fillings are silently starting to break open and leak. Once a filling starts to leak, bacteria and food particles can seep deep into the tooth where they cause severe decay because you can't brush or floss under the leaking old fillings.

The openings between the teeth and fillings are often so small that they are nearly invisible and the dental pick cannot detect them. Dental x-rays may not reveal these cavities because the old metal fillings block the x-rays. There is generally no sensitivity or pain from these cavities until they become so severe that root canal may be needed.

The only reliable way to discover these cavities is to magnify the size of the tooth with a video camera 30 to 50 times and then use the principle of optical transmission interference in crystalline substances or OTICS. OTICS says that when you have a crystal,
similar to a fiber optics cable, when light is shined through one end, the other end will appear white. 

If there is a break in the crystal that prevents the light from going all the way through, the outer surface will appear dark, even if the break is some distance from the outer surface. 

This principle is similar to a diamond with an internal flaw. It appears as a black spot on the surface even though the "damage" is down under the surface of the stone.

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In a tooth with decay under an old filling, it looks like a gray shadow next to the filling. Sometimes close inspection reveals an open edge between the tooth and the filling. Sometimes even a magnified view does not disclose an opening and the only evidence of decay is the tell-tale gray shadow.

When you examine these un-retouched actual photographs, notice the tell-tale gray shadow next to an old filling. Then look into the cavity after the filling has been removed.

Notice the black decay deep in the tooth. Notice that the gray-appearing tooth structure is still present on the surface. Notice that when the tiny camera lens is aimed into the cavity, the gray external tooth structure appears white. That is because the gray area is not decayed. It is, in fact, strong healthy tooth structure. The decay is actually deep into the tooth and causes the enamel at the surface to appear gray because the decay blocks the light going to the outer surface. No wonder a massive cavity can easily be missed by the dental pick. Look at how big the actual cavity really is once all the decay has been removed

See the article reproduced from the Dental Society of Caries Research.

And, more amazing, look at actual un-retouched photos taken at Dental Care during routine examinations and treatment.

Many of these patients had a dental examination with the dental pick a short time ago and were astounded to discover deep and extensive decay had been missed.

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