26
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Volume1 Issue7
I
ssues and
P
eople
Whatdoyou think is thekey factor
inmanagingdental caries
successfully?
Patient engagement. If your patients aren’t
engaged inmanaginganydiseaseprocess,
there’sgoing tobeno success. Patientsneed
tounderstandwhat thedisease is, andweas
cliniciansneed toprovide themwithquantifiable
information so theyunderstandwhether
things are improvingorworsening. For caries
management, it’s about lesionprogressionor
regression. If it’sgrowing,weneed toengage the
patient inbehavioural changes.
Are therenew tools tohelpusengageour
patientsbetter?
Yes, thereare.What Iwouldadvisedentists to
look for ina tool isone that’s linked to the
diseaseprocess—incaries it’smeasuring
change incrystalline structure—that isbacked
bygood scienceand solidevidencewith
results that arequantifiable, and that patients
canunderstand.
For example,mypatientsdon’t understandwhat
that little interproximal spot iswhen I show them
radiographs. Butwhen I give themanumberwith
a scale, theybegin tounderstand. So lookingat
devices that have repeatable, numerical results is
key.Moreover, patientshave tounderstandwhat
thedevice ismeasuring.
Wouldyousay “cariesmedicine” is the future
of cariesmanagement?
It has tobe.Weneed to lookat the fees for the
various services. Becausewhenyou thinkabout
it,what’s consideredprevention isn’t actually
diseaseprevention—it’sdisease treatment.We
needenough support for practices to runa robust
preventiveprogram, aswell as aprogram that
covers thecauseof the lesion. Prevention is inmy
opinionundervaluedat times. Yet that’s theone
thing that’sgoing tomake thebiggest difference
down the road.
Howcanorganizeddentistrysupport the
evolutionof cariesmanagement?
Organizations canprovide theprofessionwith
access to literatureand speakers, and knowledge
onhow tocriticallyevaluate the literature. They
canalsoadvocate for a feeor reimbursement
system that provides support sowecan treat
diseaseearly in itsprocess.
Finally, organizeddentistrycanmessage the fact
that it’s important that dental diseasesbe treated
inwhat I call a “dental home,” anenvironment
where thedentist becomes thepersonwho
supervises, and is actively involved in, the
management of thecariesdiseaseprocess across
its spectrum.
a
This interviewhasbeencondensedandedited.
Theviewsexpressedarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflecttheopinionsor
officialpoliciesoftheCanadianDentalAssociation.
TheCanarySystem
TheCanarySystem, developedbyDr. Abrams andhis teamatQuantumDental
Technologies, uses a laser tomeasureboth releaseof heat and reflected light
from the tooth surface. Thedeviceprovides informationon thepresenceand
extent of carious lesionsup to5mmbeneath tooth surface, including in
the interproximal areas, cracks, beneath sealants andaround the intact
marginsof restorations. It uses anumbering system tohelppatients
understand if lesions are improvingorworsening.
