Design, manufacture and test of a dental camera using fluorescence technique

Dat Tien Nguyen,Mien Thi Hai Pham,Vy Ngoc Khanh Duong,Vy Thi Hoang Huynh

doi:10.32508/stdj.v20ik2.452

Abstract

Dental caries is a major oral health problem in most industrialised countries and is still a major cause of tooth loss. The early diagnostics of caries is of great importance for children and adults to facilitate the treatment and prevention of the diseases. In this study, a fluorescence camera was designed and manufactured for this purpose. This device includes a 380-nm LED, which stimulates porphyrins - metabolic products of the life cycle of caries-inducing bacteria to emit fluorescence, and a compact camera recording fluorescence images in real time. The device is connected to computer via usb cable. An archiving software helps save shots as image or video. The weight and size of this device are suitable for the visual inspection in oral cavity and can be used in daily dental practice. The test results showed that this fluorescence camera can detect some types of carious lesions including dental plaque, dental caries, hidden caries and early caries. Besides, this tool has a number of advantages such as noninvasiveness, safety (non-ionizing radiation), mobility, rapid test time, and economical.

Highlights

Dental caries is the most prevalent of the oral diseases worldwide
The lesion needs to be assessed as to whether the caries is limited to enamel or if it has progressed to dentin
Another fluorescence technique – laser-induced fluorescence is based on the quantification of emitted fluorescence from organic components of TẠP CHÍ PHÁT TRIỂN KH&CN, TẬP 20, SỐ K2-2017 dental tissues when excited by a 655 nm laser diode located on the red range from the visible spectrum

Summary

Introduction

Dental professionals rely mostly on subjective interpretation of clinical-tactile inspection, aided by dental radiography for caries detection [1] These methods often show low sensitivity, and can be difficult to objectively measure mineral loss, meaning that a large number of lesions may be missed [2, 3]. It is important to emphasize that QLF can be influenced by some factors, such as stains, dental plaque, dental fluorosis or hypomineralization Another fluorescence technique – laser-induced fluorescence is based on the quantification of emitted fluorescence from organic components of TẠP CHÍ PHÁT TRIỂN KH&CN, TẬP 20, SỐ K2-2017 dental tissues when excited by a 655 nm laser diode located on the red range from the visible spectrum. Based on the difference in the color of the teeth fluorescence caries lesions can be detected

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