Fluorescence-aided caries excavation (FACE), caries detector, and conventional caries excavation in primary teeth

The purpose of this paper was to compare the ability of fluorescence-aided caries excavation (FACE) to remove infected dentin in primary teeth with that of conventional methods.

Sixty-six extracted carious primary teeth were divided according to lesion size into 3 groups of 22 teeth. Caries excavation was carried out with a slow-speed handpiece and round burs for all groups. In the first group, caries was excavated conventionally using visual tactile criteria. In the second group, a caries detector dye was used to detect carious dentin. In the FACE group, cavities were excited with violet light (370-420 nm) and observed through a 530 nm highpass filter. Orange-red fluorescing areas were removed. Undecalcified thin slices were prepared, stained with Giemsa, and examined for presence of infected dentin using light microscopy. Four samples were lost during processing.

Histology showed infected dentin in significantly less FACE samples (3 of 22) compared to conventional excavation (9 of 20; P=.03), but not significantly less compared to caries detector (5 of 20; P=.35).

Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it can be concluded that fluorescence-aided caries excavation is more effective than conventional excavation in removal of infected primary dentin.