Sidekick - Autumn 2016 - East - 43

Accurate, Objective, and Safe Diagnostics

The DEXIS™ CariVu™
caries detection device
helps me diagnose caries
with great accuracy
and without exposing
patients to ionizing
radiation.
TIGRAN
KHACHATRYAN, DDS

CariVu has
increased the
objectivity,
accuracy, and
safety of my
diagnostic
process.

It uses transillumination
technology - the image on the
screen is similar to that of an
X-ray, and the enamel appears
transparent while porous
lesions appear as dark areas.
This is especially helpful for
CariVu - No radiation, 99% accuracy, and software integration
the identification of occlusal,
interproximal, and recurrent
carious lesions and cracks not visible on
preventative care before treatment. During
other imaging methods.
cleaning, the reparative dentin can cause
staining sometimes mistaken for caries, and
CariVu fulfills four very important niches in
CariVu is an efficient double check for that
my dental practice.
situation as well.
Imaging without ionizing radiation. Some
Patient education. Patients have an
patients are reluctant or unable to be exposed
easier time identifying a problem on a
to radiation: pregnant patients, young children,
transilluminated image. My team and I also
people with medical conditions for which they
appreciate that we can get images on children
have already been exposed to radiation, and
whose small mouths or gag reflexes make
patients who have recently received dental
radiographs difficult.
X-rays. Taking a "full-mouth series" with a
CariVu can offer important information on
CariVu images are captured from the portable
caries development.
handpiece and go directly into the DEXIS
software to be stored with the patient's
A "double check" for carious lesions
intraoral X-rays and camera images.
and cracks unclear on X-rays. When a
radiolucency on a radiograph is not clear
It has increased the objectivity, accuracy,
enough for a definitive diagnosis, or if an
and safety of my diagnostic process. It's also
incipient lesion goes around the interproximal
contributed to better communication with my
and curves toward the lingual or buccal, a
patients.
CariVu image offers a big advantage.
Detecting caries at an earlier stage. Without
CariVu, I put a "watch" on that patient's
chart or take an "educated guess" if I see a
"darkness" in the interproximal area of the
tooth. I would rather have a transilluminated
image that shows the carious area with a 99%
accuracy* rate than take the chance that the
caries may reach the pulp before the patient's
next appointment, or infected structure may be
lurking beneath a carious lesion. The CariVu
image also shows me if a certain spot can, in
fact, just be watched and given a course of

* Kühnisch J. Benefits of the DIAGNOcam Procedure
for the Detection and Diagnosis of Caries [study
project]. Munich: Ludwig Maximilian University of
Munich; 2013. Indications for use are found at
www.dexis.com/ifu.

About the Author: Dr. Tigran Khachatryan
earned his dental degree from the University
of Washington School of Dentistry. He is a Kois
Center graduate and practices in Redmond,
Washington at A Smiling Heart Dentistry.
Dr. Khachatryan has no financial interests
in DEXIS, LLC.
Sidekick | Autumn 2016

43
http://www.dexis.com/ifu
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