• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2013

Recently, there have been improvements in diagnostic methods for the assessment of early caries lesions. The reason is that dental professionals are seeking methods to reliably detect incipient dental caries and to remineralize them. This review examines the literature on principles, theoretical background, and history of the Quantitative Light-Induced Fluorescence (QLF) system (Inspektor Research Systems BV, The Netherlands). Furthermore, this paper discusses the potential application of QLF system to clinical practice for educational purpose, enabling dental hygiene students to perform oral health assessment using the QLF system. In addition, the clinical application of QLF system can motivate patients by providing additional visual information about caries and bacterial activity. The evidences on validity and reliability of the QLF system for detection of longitudinal changes in de/remineralization and caries were examined. The QLF system is capable of monitoring and quantifying mineral changes in early caries lesions. Therefore, it can be used to assess the impacts of caries preventive measures on the remineralization and reversal of the caries process. And the QLF system is a very promising equipment to assess educational effectiveness for dental hygiene students in their learning process. In conclusion, the QLF system is the most effective technology for more sensitive staging of caries and treatment without surgical intervention.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.382-390
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• 2016

Since it is favorable to include the incipient caries lesion in the diagnostic criteria in adolescence, this study had surveyed dental caries status of adolescents at ages of 13 and 16 by using WHO basic methods and ICDAS-II codes. In this study, mean DMFT index was 3.71, and mean DT index was 1.94. For both indices, the age 16 group showed higher values than the age 13 group. By groups of teeth, DMFT index and DT index exhibited highest to the lowest values in molar, premolar, and anterior teeth, respectively. 77.46% of total numbers of teeth were classified as code 0 in ICDAS-II. Compared to anterior teeth, numbers of decayed teeth were increased in posterior teeth. All caries lesions in anterior teeth and premolars were limited to enamel. ICDAS-II code is an useful method to detect the incipient caries lesion, allowing preventive control on caries management.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.412-421
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• 2010

As a most conservative, minimally invasive trial against early caries lesions, resin infiltration concept has been introduced and studied mainly about effective materials and pre-treatment methods of surface layers to arrest the lesion effectively, which is still going on. This study was performed with an aim of evaluating the efficacy of arresting the caries process in the natural incipient lesions in spite of removing the surface layers and we obtained the results as follows: 1. It was revealed that infiltration groups(1, 3, 5) showed lower radio-density decline between pre- and posttreatment than control groups(2, 4, 6)(p<0.05). 2. Group 5, in which the surface layer was removed with hydrochloric acid, showed the most significant anticariogenic effect(p<0.05). 3. Under SEM evaluation after infiltration, group 1 and 3 showed more irregular destruction and intensive loss of surface layers than group 5. In conclusion, it was thought resin infiltration can be an effective tool against the early caries lesions although surface layers are removed.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.169-179
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to develop the system which convert the optical difference of teeth texture between intact enamel and incipient caries lesion into shade difference by laser fluorescence and to develop new and simple caries activity test using laser fluorescence. The experimental design of this study consists of three parts. In first part, a new method for the in vitro assessment of changes in initial enamel caries lesion of Bovine teeth using laser fluorescence is tested. In second part, in vivo assessment undertaken. Number of teeth which showed incipient carious lesion on buccal surface examined by laser fluorescence was compared with the caries activity test of $Cariescreen^{(R)}$ test and other oral environmental test of dDfFtT. In third part, new caries activity test measured by laser fluorescence was developed on the basis of above results and evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic power. Optical density measured by laser fluorescence was increased as increasing the depth of incipient carious lesion and showed high correlation$(\gamma=0.7015)$ with lesion depth. Optical density showed direct proportion to lesion depth. Linear equation was obtained between the optical density and the lesion depth by regression analysis. The result of caries activity test with laser fluorescence showed high correlation with those of $Cariescreen^{(R)}$ test and dDfFtT examination. Caries activity test with laser fluorescence showed 48% of sensitivity, 52% of specificity, and 45% of diagnostic power on the basis of dDfFtT examination, and also showed 48% of sensitivity, 51% of specificity, and 36% of diagnostic power on the basis of $Cariescreen^{(R)}$ test. In regard above result, caries activity test with laser fluorescence considered to be reliable for caries activity test compared with other oral environmental test. and it was also considered to be practical because it would be simple, inexpensive, and time saving method.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2001

Dental Caries which has high prevalence rate, accounts for majority of dental diseases. Many treatment and preventive treatment has been developed, thereby reducing the prevalence rate, but in our country, fluoridization has not spread widely yet, so prevention has not been done satisfactorily. When dental caries progresses, irreversible damage of tooth structure occurs. In initial dental caries, demineralizing tooth structure can be remineralized, so restorative treatment is unnecessary. In this study, 20 teeth restored with composite resin without fluoride release were used and divided into two groups. Incipient dental caries were artificially made and demineralization procedure was done for 1 and 2 weeks, for each group. Changes in mineral contents around the margins were analysed with confocal laser scanning microscope. The results were as follow. 1. Both total fluorescence of the lesion and average fluorescence of the lesion of remineralized samples decreased compared to demineralizing state. (p＜0.01) 2. Confocal laser scanning microscopy can be used in quantitative analysis of mineral change. In result, confocal laser scanning microscopy can be used in quantitative analysis of mineral change and it could be used in many different fields of dentistry in the future.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.470-488
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• 1996

The end products of the metabolism of the oral microorganism, organic acids, are an element that produces dental caries. Four organic acids in plaque fluid, lactic acid, acetic acid, succinic acid, propionic acid which take the important role in producing dental caries, were chosen to evaluate the effect of acid type and concentration. The subject, $100{\mu}m$ in thickness, were immersed in acid-buffer solution which has the different acid concentration of 10mM, 25mM, 50mM, 100mM and pH 4.3 and degree of saturation was $0.153{\pm}0.003$ kept in constant and were operated to produce artificial caries under different demineralization time (1, 2, 3 day) at x25. The results were obtained by observing under polarizing microscope at x25. 1. The subsurface lesion, specific finding of incipient enamel caries, showed positive birefringence. but surface zone and sound enamel showed negative birefringence. 2. The demineralization rate of enamel was increased as the acid concentration increased. 3. The subsurface lesion showed increasing depth in the order of lactic, acetic, propionic acid, succinic acid. 4. The concentration of organic acid in artificial caries system had an independent effect on demineralization rate in enamel under the constant pH and degree of saturation. The result of this study showed that not only pH and the acid strength but the concentration of organic acid had an independent effect on demineralization rate in early enamel caries. And through the further research on the factors influencing enamel demineralization, it will be necessary to develop an effective caries preventive therapy.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.313-324
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• 1997

The aim of the present study was to describe an safe and convenient method for the early detection of enamel caries using laser fluorescence. Fluorescence from natually carious lesion of human teeth illuminated by an argon laser(488nm) was observed and photographed using barrier filter. Intact enamel was found to fluorescence with a yellowish light. Whereas, incipient caries lesions in the enamel were dearly visible as dark areas in contrast to the fluorescence surroundings. For evaluation of accuracy of this method, lesion depth measured by the laser fluorescence in light microscope was compared with that polarizing microscope. The results from the present study can be summarized as follows : 1. Enamel caries of smooth surface was observed as pale white spot and undefined outline in ordinary light. Whereas, lesion was clearly visible as dark spot in laser fluorescence. 2. There was no difference between ordinary light view and laser fluorescence in occlusal surface and interproximal surface. 3. There was no significant difference between the lesion depth observed by laser fluorescence with light microscope and polarizing microscope. Apparent correlation exists between two groups.

• Proceedings of the KACD Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.615-615
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• 2003

I. Objectives This study was performed to get some information about micromorphology of subsurface lesion of root caries by observing autofluorescence using confocal laser scanning microscope(CLSM) with minimum sample preparation. II. Materials and Methods Half-cut and 1 mm thick sample of human teeth were prepared to produce artificial root carious lesions. Incipient subsurface lesions were produced under optimal pH and saturity. The lesions were observed by polarized microscopy, CLSM, and back-scattered electron microscope(BSE). Calcium and phosphorus concentrations of the lesions were analyzed by line EDAX. (omitted)

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different spatial resolutions of a photostimulable phosphor plate (PSP) radiography system on the detection of proximal caries lesions. Materials and Methods: Forty-five extracted human permanent teeth were radiographed using a PSP system (VistaScan Perio Plus) and scanned at the 4 resolutions (10 lp/mm, 20 lp/mm, 25 lp/mm, and 40 lp/mm) available in the system. Three independent examiners scored the images for the presence and absence of proximal caries lesions using a 5-point scale. The presence or absence of caries was confirmed by histological sections of the examined teeth (defined as the gold standard). Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility was calculated by the weighted kappa test. One-way analysis of variance with the post hoc Tukey test was used to compare the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the classifications made with each resolution. Results: For the detection of enamel lesions, the spatial resolution of 10 lp/mm was significantly superior to the other resolutions. However, the spatial resolution did not affect the detection of caries lesions in dentin (P>0.05). Conclusion: Spatial resolution may influence the accuracy of the detection of incipient caries lesions in radiographs with PSP plates. Images with low spatial resolution seem to be more appropriate for this purpose.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2012

The concept of resin infiltration which was born in an innovative philosophy to arrest the incipient caries. However, the structural changes of resin infiltrated lesions have not yet explained completely. The liquid resin might contribute not only to maximizing the penetration but to deteriorating physical stability. This study was performed to examine some physical and histological features of resin infiltrated incipient carious lesions. With the specimen of resin infiltrated lesions, microhardness by nanoindentation in depth profile, morphology of resin tags were revealed after HCl dissolution, and degree of microleakage were assessed. The percentage of microhardness of surface layer and lesion body of untreated specimen to sound enamel was 64.6% and 24.6% respectively, while that of resin-infiltrated lesions was 72.1%, showing significant difference (p<0.05). The resin tags observed under SEM had relatively homogeneous length of 433(282~501) ${\mu}m$ on the average. Among 20 specimens for microleakage assessment, 13 specimens showed no leakage while 5 and 2 showed leakage into outer and inner half of lesion respectively. It was thought the infiltrant resin penetrates deeply and homogeneously into lesion body and improves its hardness with relatively good physical stability.