09:48 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 11, 2004

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - For anyone who's ever worried about the potential health risks of dental X-rays, there’s a new cavity detection system that doesn't use radiation, and it may even be better than standard X-rays.

DIFOTI Decay near the imaged surface appears as a darker area against the more translucent brighter back-ground of surrounding healthy anatomy.

A light shines on a tooth, making it glow. When magnified on a computer screen, a dark, foggy spot shows where a cavity is located.

It' s called DIFOTI, which is short for Digital Imaging Fiber-Optic Trans-Illumination. Seattle dentist David Buck calls it a giant leap forward.

"Before, we would catch decay fairly accurately, but at a much later stage,” Buck said. “This is a much earlier detection and the benefit is that it saves so much more tooth structure when you wind up treating that area.”

The traditional approach would be to remove a large amount of tooth structure. Instead, “all that's removed is the groove areas," said Buck.

DIFOTI also works as an early detection system for cracks and leaky fillings, something dentists could only guess about before. Still, it won't completely replace X-rays.

"To see bone and the root below the gum-line you would still use an X-ray," said Buck.

But as he pointed out that most cavities do occur above the gum line. For pregnant women, children and cancer patients who have already high doses of radiation, this is a safe and welcome alternative.

In some cases, decay can even be reversed if caught early enough.

Besides Dr. Buck, Dr. William Thompson in Burien, Wash., and the dental school at the University of Washington use the DIFOTI system.