Dentistry

Abstract

Clinically Assessing Remineralizing Therapies using Quantitative Lightinduced Fluorescence: A Pilot Study

R. Vaderhobli, L. Saunders, R. Billings, C. Feng and H. Malmstrom

Quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) method has been used in vitro, in situ and in vivo as a diagnostic method in assessing smooth surface caries over the last twenty years. Coincidentally, reversal or remineralization of early smooth surface lesion by remineralizing agents has been substantiated by in vitro and in situ studies over the last twenty years. However, there are very few reported clinical trials to assess the effectiveness of these remineralizing agents by using QLF. This research aims at exploring the remineralizing potential of a specially formulated remineralizing mouth rinse and the ‘gold-standard’ Sodium Fluoride (NaF) rinse by using QLF as a monitoring tool.
Methods: Twelve Subjects at high-risk for caries progression with smooth surface caries on anterior teeth were selected and randomly assigned to the control and to the test group. Twice daily (after breakfast and after dinner) the subjects rinsed 1 oz of either the test (Calcium and Fluoride; 250 ppm F) or the control rinse (NaF; 250 ppm F). Baseline assessments of the progression of the smooth surface lesion were done by QLF at 0, 1, 2, and end of 3 months. A two-sided t-test, MANOVA and exact F-statistics were used to determine differences between treatment groups.
Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in preventing the progression of caries (p> 0.05). It was concluded that QLF could be a useful diagnostic tool to aid the clinician in caries management.