In-Vivo Treatment of Occlusal Caries with Ozone: Immediate Effect and Correlation of Diagnostic Methods

L. ABU-NABA'A*, H. AL SHORMAN, E. LYNCH. School of Dentistry, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Ozone has been proven to reverse root caries clinically. It is now being investigated as a pharmaceutical treatment for pit and fissure carious lesions (PFCLs) in longitudinal controlled clinical studies.

Aim: to correlate quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) and electrical caries monitor (ECM) readings with a clinical classification of PFCLs, and then to study the immediate effect of Ozone application on these readings.

Methods: A total of 236 PFCLs were entered in 58 patients. After cleaning each lesion using a Prophyflex 2® (KaVo, Germany), a clinical classification (Ekstrand, 1998), QLF (DIAGNOdent®, KaVo, Germany) and ECM (LODE BV, Netherlands) standard scale readings were recorded. Half of the lesions were treated with Ozone (using the HealOzone unit from CurOzone USA) for 10 seconds and the other half were reserved as controls. The readings were repeated after the Ozone treatment.

Results: ECM and QLF readings correlated significantly with the clinical classification (rs= -0.399, p<0.0001 and rs= 0.296, p<0.001 respectively). Both readings correlated significantly with each other (rs= -0.236, p<0.01). A significant overall reduction of QLF readings was produced immediately after Ozone treatment (t=2.315, P<0.05). The percentage of teeth which produced this reduction was 56%. ECM readings were not altered immediately by the Ozone treatment (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The results demonstrated the reliability of the clinical classification used in this study. Ozone was shown to immediately reduce the QLF readings in more than half the lesions. Not surprisingly, as no remineralization can occur immediately, Ozone did not immediately change the ECM readings. Any effect will be monitored over time.