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

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.