Efficacy of Ozone in the Treatment of Pit and Fissure Caries.

L ABU-NABA'A1 , H AL SHORMAN*1 , E LYNCH1 . 1Restorative dentistry, School of dentistry, Queen's University Belfast, NI

Already proven to clinically reverse root caries, Ozone is now being investigated as a pharmaceutical, non operative treatment for occlusal pit and fissure caries in double blind longitudinal controlled clinical trials.

Aim: This study aimed to monitor lesions arrest or progression one month after Ozone treatment using the ECM and DIAGNOdent. Materials and methods: 134 occlusal pit and fissure carious lesions in 42 patients were enrolled in the study and consent forms were signed. After clinical classification (Ekstrand, 1998) and cleaning using the Prophyflex 2® (KaVo, Germany), the DIAGNOdent® (KaVo, Germany) and ECM (LODE BV, Netherlands) readings were recorded on each carious lesion. After randomisation, half of the lesions were treated with Ozone (HealOzone unit; CurOzone USA) for 10 seconds and the other half were reserved as controls. Each subject had equal numbers of test and control lesions. After one month, the teeth were cleaned using the Prophyflex 2® and the readings were repeated. Results: DIAGNOdent® values significantly rose in the control group in comparison with the treatment group (t = -2.114, p<0.05). The ECM readings in the treatment group improved compared to the baseline (t = 2.35, p<0.05) whilst the control group did not change significantly. (t = 1.49, p>0.05). There were no observed adverse events during the study period.

Conclusion: DIAGNOdent® values showed that Ozone treatment can stabilise occlusal pit and fissure caries by protecting against further deterioration. Remineralization of occlusal carious lesions occurs within one month after Ozone treatment. This novel treatment regime using ozone may be considered to be an effective alternative to conventional "drilling and filling" for the clinical in vivo management of pit and fissure caries.