White spot lesions after orthodontic treatment assessed by clinical photographs and by quantitative light-induced fluorescence imaging; a retrospective study

Abstract

Objective: White spot lesions (WSL) are an important side-effect of orthodontic multi-bracket (MB) treatment. Standardized monitoring of such WSL may help in caries management.

Materials and methods: In this retrospective study the discriminatory power of caries assessment on routine digital oral photographs was compared to quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) imaging in monitoring WSL development after debonding of orthodontic appliances. Oral and QLF photographs captured directly after debond (T1) and 1 year thereafter (T2) of 51 subjects, treated with full MB orthodontic appliances were used. Oral photographs were assessed by use of The International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) at both time points independently and by side-by-side comparison to assess visual transition (VT). QLF photographs were categorized based on integrated fluorescence loss at T1 and T2.

Results: At T1 433 and 384 lesions on 918 buccal surfaces were detected using ICDAS and QLF, respectively. For both methods these numbers were reduced at T2. Changes within ICDAS scores were recorded by VT and showed mainly lesion improvement within ICDAS score 2.

Conclusion: The oral and QLF photographs both showed regression of WSL after debonding of MB orthodontic appliances. The VT evaluation was found to have higher discriminatory power in comparison to ICDAS.

Keywords: caries assessment; dental caries; detection methods; early diagnosis; orthodontics.