Emtiaz Ahmed Lone, Ashok Jena, SP Singh, Ashok Utreja

ABSTRACT

Orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances increases the caries risk in young persons. The aim of this study was to apply diagnostic method, a DIAGNOdent, for longitudinal in vivo quantification of changes in incipient enamel lesions related to fixed orthodontic appliances. Material and methods. The comparison of diagnodent readings before and after orthodontic treatment was asssesed .Total (n=46; M=18 , F=28) subjects whose pretreatment evaluation were done for white spot enamel lesions (WSLs) and all subjects were recorded after treatment with a total number of teeth (n=1026) examined, who completed their comprehensive orthodontic treatment. Results: The mean DIAGNOdent score was increased from pre-treatment value of 3.46±3.34 to 3.63±3.62 at the end of orthodontic treatment, but statistically non- significant (P=0.282).The individual teeth were also compared which showed statistically significant difference (P <0.001) among all the teeth except maxillary canines and mandibular second premolars. Conclusion. The efficiency of the DIAGNOdent method to monitor small changes in incipient enamel lesions is reliable and reproducible. The method could be very useful, therefore, for investigations of the effect of preventive and therapeutic measures in various cariogenic risk groups, such as orthodontic patients.