Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Oct;42(8):752-9.
doi: 10.1002/lsm.20963.

Ability of optical coherence tomography to detect caries beneath commonly used dental sealants

Jennifer S Holtzman  1 , Kathryn Osann, Jessica Pharar, Kenneth Lee, Yeh-Chan Ahn, Travis Tucker, Sharareh Sabet, Zhongping Chen, Ripsik Gukasyan, Petra Wilder-Smith
Affiliations

Ability of optical coherence tomography to detect caries beneath commonly used dental sealants

Jennifer S Holtzman et al. Lasers Surg Med. 2010 Oct.

Abstract

Background and objective: The onset and progression of early tooth decay is often preventable with dental sealants. However, occasionally decay progresses underneath the sealant. Current technology does not permit monitoring of potential lesion progression or arrest. Dental sealants themselves mask the visual cues that identify early tooth decay, and radiographs are not sufficiently sensitive. Therefore, clinicians can be reluctant to use dental sealant. The objective of this ex vivo study was to evaluate the ability of dentists to detect decay beneath commonly used dental sealants using optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging. STUDY DESIGNS/MATERIALS/METHODS: Forty extracted teeth were divided into equal groups of carious and non-carious teeth, as determined by visual inspection. After radiographs and OCT imaging, teeth were randomly assigned for sealant placement with one of four commonly purchased dental sealants: Clinpro™, Fuji Triage™, Embrace Wet Bond™, and Delton™.Following sealant placement, teeth were radiographed, imaged with OCT, sectioned, examined histologically, and scored as healthy/not healthy. OCT and radiographic images were scored separately. The gold standard was histopathological diagnosis from the serial sections.Cohen's kappa, sensitivity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value were computed for all measures.

Results: After 90 minutes training, pre-standardized dentists were able to detect tooth decay more accurately using OCT than with visual or radiographic examination. Detection using OCT was somewhat better prior to sealant placement than afterwards. This effect varied in size depending on the type of sealant used. Radiographic diagnosis was also less accurate after sealant placement. Of the four dental sealants, Delton provided excellent positive predictive value and the best post-sealant negative predictive values.

Conclusion: In this ex vivo study, dentists were able to detect tooth decay beneath four commonly used dental sealants based on OCT images. Clinical investigations are now underway to determine the usefulness of this approach in vivo.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Oong EM, Griffin SO, Kohn WG, Gooch BF, Caufield PW. The effect of dental sealants on bacteria levels in caries lesions: A review of the evidence. J Am Dent Assoc. 2008;139:271–278. - PubMed
    1. Ahovuo-Saloranta A, Hiiri A, Nordblad A, Mäkelä M, Worthington HV. Pit and fissure sealants for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2008;4:CD001830. - PubMed
    1. Griffin SO, Oong E, Kohn W, Vidakovic B, Gooch BF. CDC Dental Sealant Systematic Review Work Group, Bader J, Clarkson J, Fontana MR, Meyer DM, Rozier RG, Weintraub JA, Zero DT. The Effectiveness of Sealants in Managing Caries Lesions. J Dent Res. 2008;87:169–174. - PubMed
    1. Jodkowska E. Efficacy of pit and fissure sealing: long-term clinical observations. Quintessence Int. 2008;39:593–602. - PubMed
    1. Fejerskov O, Nyvad B, Kidd EAM. Clinical and histological manifestations of dental caries. In: Fejerskov O, Kidd EAM, editors. Dental Caries - The Disease and Its Clinical Management. London: Blackwell Munksgaard; 2003. pp. 71–97.

Publication types

Substances