Development of a high-resolution photothermal coherence tomography clinical device for detection and 3-D mapping of early dental caries

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Dental caries remains the most prevalent chronic disease in both children and adults,**imposing significant financial and societal burdens on families, governments, and health care**systems. Among 5-17 year olds, tooth decay is more common than asthma, hay fever or**chronic bronchitis and is responsible for large numbers of days missed from school and work.**By age 19, 68 percent of youth have experienced tooth decay in permanent teeth. Similar**trends are observed in adults (92% of adults 20 to 64 have had dental caries in their**permanent teeth). The prevalence of caries suggests that the disease is not being effectively**managed in the current standard of care in Dentistry due to insensitivity of clinical detection**tools and techniques to early caries. The proposed project aims to develop a high resolution**clinical device for detection and 3-D mapping of early dental caries using lasers and infrared**cameras. The proposed device is expected to reveal dental demineralization at very early**stages when the lesion can still be remineralized or healed, creating a painless, cost-effective**and non-invasive treatment for tooth decay instead of the conventional drilling and filling**approach. The outcome of this research will be widely useful not only as an early dental**caries diagnostic imaging technology for Canadians, but also universally to dental**researchers for carrying out a broad spectrum of research themes in Dentistry. Early dental**caries detection advantages include: increased chance of successful remineralization,**decreased risk of cavities and reduced treatment costs.