There are many ways to prevent tooth decay. More on this under the topic of Preventive Dentistry. Sometimes, however, it is inevitable that a carious lesion will form. This is often only discovered when it is already big enough to be seen with the naked eye. Caries treatment is already more difficult at this point. In order to prevent this late diagnosis, radiographs of the interstitial spaces are taken regularly, on which carious lesions can be detected early.

X-rays should not be taken for caries prophylaxis because of the exposure to radiation, particularly when diagnosing tooth decay of children and pregnant women. An innovative alternative that I offer you in practice is early caries detection with infrared light. Carious lesions between the teeth are visualized with an intraoral scanner through near-infrared images. Recent studies suggest that with this method, lesions can become visible weeks and months before they would have been seen on x-rays. Due to the early stage of caries diagnosis, caries removal is possible without pain.

This radiation-free method for early caries detection is of course not reserved only for our little patients and pregnant women. We are happy to offer them to all our patients.