New dental tool prototype can spot the acidic conditions that lead to
cavities

Date:
March 8, 2022
Source:
University of Washington
Summary:
Researchers have shown that a dental tool they created can measure
the acidity built up by the bacteria in plaque that leads to
cavities.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
You and your dentist have a lot of tools and techniques for stopping
cavities, but detecting the specific chemical conditions that can lead
to cavities and then preventing them from ever getting started is much
harder. Now, in a new study, University of Washington researchers have
shown that a dental tool they created 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 emits an LED light
and measures the reactions of that light, the fluorescence, with an FDA-approved chemical dye applied to teeth. The O-pH then produces a
numerical reading of the pH, or acidity, of the plaque covering those
teeth. Knowing how acidic the plaque is can tell dentists and patients
what area of a tooth is most at risk of developing a cavity.

"Plaque has a lot of bacteria that produce acid when they interact with
the sugar in our food," said Manuja Sharma, lead author and a doctoral
student in the UW Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "This
acid is what causes the corrosion of the tooth surface and eventually
cavities. So, if we can capture information about the acidic activity,
we can get an idea of how bacteria are growing in the dental biofilm,
or plaque." Sharma explained that not all bacteria in that biofilm are
bad or will lead to cavities, so measuring the acidity of the environment
can tell a dentist what they need to know about the threat of developing problems. That can limit the need to test for specific harmful bacteria,
of which there can be a multitude.

To test their device, the researchers recruited 30 patients between
the ages of 10 and 18, with a median age of 15, in the UW School of
Dentistry's Center for Pediatric Dentistry. The researchers chose kids
for their study in large part because the enamel on kids' teeth is much
thinner than that of adults, so getting early warning of acid erosion is
even more important. To perform the measurements with the O-pH device,
the researchers also recruited second- and third-year students in the
dentistry school, who were supervised by a faculty member.

The test is non-invasive. While the dye is applied to the teeth, at the
end of a length of cord is the probe that transmits and collects light
while hovering over the surface of a tooth (see photos). The collected
light travels back to a central box that provides a pH reading. The
conditions on the patients' teeth were read several times before
and after sugar rinses and other condition changes, such as pre- and post-professional dental cleaning.

Eric Seibel, senior author and research professor of mechanical
engineering in the UW College of Engineering, said the idea for adding
the acidity test as a new clinical procedure came from envisioning that
when a patient first sits in the dental chair, before their teeth get
cleaned, "a dentist would rinse them with the tasteless fluorescent
dye solution and then get their teeth optically scanned to look for
high acid production areas where the enamel is getting demineralized."
The study was published in February in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering. The research team reported that one limitation to their
study was being unable to consistently measure the same location on
each tooth during each phase of testing. To address this limitation,
in particular, the researchers are evolving their device to a version
that produces images for dentists that instantly show the exact location
of high acidity, where the next cavity may occur.

"We do need more results to show how effective it is for diagnosis,
but it can definitely help us understand some of your oral health quantitatively," said Sharma. "It can also help educate patients about
the effects of sugar on the chemistry of plaque. We can show them, live,
what happens, and that is an experience they'll remember and say, OK,
fine, I need to cut down on sugar!" Co-authors include Lauren Lee, UW Department of Microbiology; Matthew Carson, UW Human Photonics Laboratory; David Park, Se An, Micah Bovenkamp, Jess Cayetano, Ian Berude, Zheng Xu, Alireza Sadr, UW School of Dentistry; and Shwetak Patel, UW Electrical
and Computer Engineering, Paul. G. Allen School of Computer Science. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Oral Health
Monitor, Institute of Translational Health Sciences; and the National
Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes
of Health.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Washington. Original
written by Jake Ellison. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Manuja Sharma, Lauren K. Lee, Matthew D. Carson, David S. Park,
Se W. An,
Micah G. Bovenkamp, Jess J. Cayetano, Ian A Berude, Zheng Xu,
Alireza Sadr, Shwetak N. Patel, Eric J. Seibel. O-pH: Optical
pH Monitor to Measure Oral Biofilm Acidity and Assist in Enamel
Health Monitoring. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering,
2022; 1 DOI: 10.1109/ TBME.2022.3153659 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220308155625.htm

--- up 1 week, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)