Dye-enhanced laser fluorescence detection on natural caries lesions in primary teeth
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association of two fluorescent dyes and Laser Fluorescence (LF) device in detecting smooth and occlusal natural caries in primary teeth in vitro.Methods: Measurements were performed with the LF and with LF associated with tetrakis (N-methylpyridyl)porphyrin (LF TMPyP) and protoporphyrin IX (LF PPIX) in 72 smooth (63 primary molars) and 134 occlusal sites (81 primary molars). For validation, surfaces were sectioned and sections obtained were evaluated under stereomicroscope. Smooth surfaces were also evaluated using polarized light microscopy and Knoop microhardness. For both smooth and occlusal surfaces, ROC analyses were performed, and sensitivities, specificities and accuracies were assessed. In smooth surfaces, Pearson’s correlation coefficients between LF values and lesions hardness or lesions depth were calculated.Results: LF TMPyP presented higher correlation with hardness and lesion depth than other methods in smooth surfaces. No differences were observed in other parameters among the methods, in both smooth and occlusal surfaces.Relevance: The LF TMPyP might improve performance in quantifying smooth-surface caries lesions in primary teeth. However, the sensitivity is improved at D2 (caries extending into inner half of the enamel but not to amelodentinal junction) threshold when using PPIX in smooth caries lesions. The association of LF with fluorescent dyes does not improve the performance on occlusal caries.