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This study presents results from a study of the use of quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) for diagnosis of early enamel demineralization. Children 9-12 years of age (n = 137) were examined at baseline, and at 4 and 8 months after baseline screening. Clinical examination of buccal, lingual and occlusal surfaces was done on the right half of the mouth using compressed air and E2 loupes and on the left half using compressed air and explorer. The same surfaces were then gently dried before examination by an intra-oral camera equipped with an arc lamp (QLF clin, Inspektor Research Systems bv). This lamp emits a broad spectrum of light that is filtered to a small band at 370 nm. The fluorescent filtered images (high-pass filter, Ï >520 nm) were captured under a small angle using a colour CCD camera and a frame-grabber (Comet, Matrox, Electronic Systems Ltd., Quebec, Canada). Presence or absence of a lesion was determined on the live images. Agreement between clinical and QLF whole-mouth results was as follows: baseline Î score 0.22, 4 months 0.30, 8 months 0.28. On the explorer side, Î scores were 0.23 at baseline, 0.33 at 4 months and 0.30 at 8 months. On the loupe side, Î scores were 0.22 at baseline, 0.27 at 4 months and 0.25 at 8 months. For all of the examinations combined QLF detected 9.5 times more demineralized surfaces (mean 12.69) than the full-mouth clinical examinations (mean 1.33). The Î scores indicate only fair agreement between clinical and QLF examinations, which although not impressive is probably better than would be anticipated when considering the difference in means. |