After the X-rays, it's time for some scraping.
When the pick or dental explorer sticks or catches on your teeth, that means: "The bacteria in that area is basically growing," said dentist Dr. Mori Rouhani.
At Dental Plus in Pasadena, Dr. Rouhani uses pain-free asers to look for cavities. The device is called DIAGNOdent. The laser penetrates and scans each tooth looking for the earliest signs of decay.
A reading over the "30" signals a cavity.
"When we catch this in the earlier stages of it, we have to remove less tooth structure," said Rouhani.
The great thing about this device is that patients can actually see where the cavity is developing and they can learn to take preventive action.
"Patients, they get motivated when they see that cavities can be taken care of so easily," said Rouhani.
Rouhani says the cost of DIAGNOdent is billed to insurance as part of the diagnostic service.
While only a handful of dental practices were using the device a few years ago, Rouhani says it's growing in popularity.
