SCIENCE FILE / An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment : Electric Current Could Be Used to Find Cavities, Researcher Says
From Times staff and wire reports
Scientists may have found a better way for your dentist to look for cavities. It involves passing an electric current through a tooth and all the way down your arm. By detecting the very earliest stages of decay, the technique could spare you the hassle of drilling and fillings, researcher Christopher Longbottom of the University of Dundee Dental School in Scotland reported in Nature Medicine.
It has not been tried on patients or animals yet, but it was 100% accurate in detecting decay in 26 extracted teeth, Longbottom said. He said the best advantages are that it doesn’t hurt and doesn’t have the danger of X-rays.
