Our DIAGNOdent laser conducts a quick, comfortable, and highly accurate tooth decay diagnosis without prodding or poking. This revolutionary new machine allows more accurate diagnosis while also virtually eliminating any discomfort during the exam.

Why use lasers?

The manual probing the dentist does is often ineffective at detecting decay. Even routine cavity detecting x-rays can sometimes miss detecting a cavity in the early stages.

This is important because with today's widespread use of fluoride and improved oral hygiene the tooth enamel is less prone to cavities. Harder and therefore more resistant enamel can many times conceal sub-surface decay, especially if the decay starts in deep pits and fissures that standard dental instruments cannot get into.  Diagnodent can even detect decay occurring under a crown, allowing us to quickly catch what could later be a problem.

How does it work?

Measures laser fluorescence within tooth structure. At the specific wavelength that the Diagnodent laser operates, clean healthy tooth structure exhibits little or no fluorescence, resulting in a very low scale reading on the Diagnodent display. A tooth with decay will exhibit fluorescence, proportional to the degree of caries, resulting in an elevated Diagnodent scale reading.