Cutoff fluorescence loss for the recovery of incipient carious lesions after fluoride application in primary teeth: A clinical study

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Early detection and diagnosis of incipient caries are the keys to achieving a favorable prognosis. Monitoring of pathological changes based on clinical evidence leads to an accurate prognosis. Therefore, this clinical study investigated changes in minerals of incipient carious lesions using quantitative light-induced fluorescence-digital (QLF-D) after applying professional fluoride treatment to children, with improvement of the lesion severity assessed based on the fluorescence loss (ΔF) value obtained using QLF-D.

METHODS:

This study examined 90 incipient enamel lesions on the primary teeth of 27 children aged between 4 and 10 years. QLF-D images were obtained before and after the application of 1.23% acidulated phosphate fluoride gel for 1 min, and the ΔF values at 0 and 4 weeks (ΔF(0) and ΔF(4), respectively) and the recovery rates (RΔF) of the lesions were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to calculate the cutoff ΔF(0) value at which recovery of the lesion with fluoride treatment remained feasible.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:

The recovery patterns of ΔF 4 weeks after fluoride application differed depending on the ΔF(0) values. The incipient lesions with ΔF(0) values of less than -13.00 recovered 4 weeks after fluoride application (P < 0.001) and had an average RΔF value of 19.27%. The results indicate that a ΔF(0) cutoff value can be determined for predicting the effects of remineralization after fluoride application and quantitative prognostic data can be provided to patients.