Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects

Dental caries remains the most prevalent chronic disease in both children and adults,_x000D_ imposing significant financial and societal burdens on families, governments, and health care_x000D_ systems. Among 5-17 year olds, tooth decay is more common than asthma, hay fever or_x000D_ chronic bronchitis and is responsible for large numbers of days missed from school and work._x000D_ By age 19, 68 percent of youth have experienced tooth decay in permanent teeth. Similar_x000D_ trends are observed in adults (92% of adults 20 to 64 have had dental caries in their_x000D_ permanent teeth). The prevalence of caries suggests that the disease is not being effectively_x000D_ managed in the current standard of care in Dentistry due to insensitivity of clinical detection_x000D_ tools and techniques to early caries. The proposed project aims to develop a high resolution_x000D_ clinical device for detection and 3-D mapping of early dental caries using lasers and infrared_x000D_ cameras. The proposed device is expected to reveal dental demineralization at very early_x000D_ stages when the lesion can still be remineralized or healed, creating a painless, cost-effective_x000D_ and non-invasive treatment for tooth decay instead of the conventional drilling and filling_x000D_ approach. The outcome of this research will be widely useful not only as an early dental_x000D_ caries diagnostic imaging technology for Canadians, but also universally to dental_x000D_ researchers for carrying out a broad spectrum of research themes in Dentistry. Early dental_x000D_ caries detection advantages include: increased chance of successful remineralization,_x000D_ decreased risk of cavities and reduced treatment costs.