WASHINGTON: Researchers at the University of Washington recently created a dental tool that can measure the acidity built up by the bacteria in plaque that leads to cavities.
The O-pH system is a prototype optical device that uses an FDA-approved chemical dye to detect the interactions of an LED light with an FDA-approved chemical dye placed on teeth. After that, the O-pH generates a numerical reading of the plaque's pH, or acidity, that covers those teeth.
Knowing how acidic plaque is can help dentists and patients determine which parts of a tooth are more vulnerable to cavities.
Manuja Sharma, the study's principal author, and colleagues chose children for their study because the enamel on children's teeth is significantly thinner than that of adults, making early detection of acid erosion even more crucial. They also recruited students in the dentistry school, who were supervised by a faculty member.
The conditions on the patients' teeth were read several times with the O-pH device before and after sugar rinses and other condition changes, such as pre-and post-professional dental cleaning.
Using drop pH and diff pH, the researchers discovered a substantial difference between the post-cleaning and pre-cleaning groups. Furthermore, when comparing caries surfaces to healthy surfaces, the rest and drop pH is lower in the pre-cleaning group. The post-cleaning group did not show a similar trend.
The study 'O-pH: Optical pH Monitor to Measure Oral Biofilm Acidity and Assist in Enamel Health Monitoring' has recently been published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.
