Air Techniques' Spectra Caries Detection Aid saves your patients time, money

You know how important it is to catch problems in the mouth before they get out of hand. Finding problems earlier rather than later not only keeps your patients happy and healthier, it saves everyone time and money.

That notion is why Sara Collins is so pleased with one of her dentist’s latest purchases. During her last hygiene visit at Dr. Brian Vieth’s office in Lexington, Ky., they found the early beginnings of two carious lesions, and by using the Spectra Caries Detection Aid from Air Techniques, they were able to show her exactly where the problem areas were.

The device not only produces high-quality images for the doctor and patient to look at together, it also features fluorescence technology that indicates the extent of decay with color and numerical readings. For Collins, the Spectra readings were easy to understand and served as a great education tool and motivation for her to go forward with treatment.

“They explained everything to me,” Collins said, remembering the visit. “Visually it all made sense, the way he showed me, the coloration, the images. It was helpful to have that, to physically see the different severity of it rather than just having the black and white images.”

Not only does the Spectra Caries Detection Aid serve as a great patient education tool, it also does the job quickly. It only took about five minutes to take the pictures during the appointment, Collins said, and then she spent about 10 minutes talking to the doctor about what the readings meant. It was definitely time well spent.

A little less than two weeks after that appointment, Collins went back to Dr. Vieth’s office to get two fillings. She’s thankful they were able to use the Spectra to spot the caries early in the process, and that she was able to come back to the office so quickly and take care of the small problems before they became much bigger, more expensive problems.

Air Techniques Inc.Spectra
Operating using fluorescence technology, Spectra is an ergonomic handheld digital imaging instrument that aids in detecting caries visually. Designed to offer the latest technology in non-invasive digital imaging and optimal care, the caries detection handpiece enables dentists to identify the exact location of potential carious lesions on tooth surfaces. Cariogenic bacteria turns fluoresce red. Other features include LEDs that project high-energy light and the ability to project a wavelength of 405 nm onto the tooth.
800-AIR TECH • airtechniques.com

“I think it’s definitely a good education tool,” Collins said. “It’s a great diagnostic tool for them to have. And if they’re able to catch things earlier it definitely saves patients and everybody a lot of time and money without having to do a more serious procedure, and then of course insurance having to cover a more difficult procedure.”

Collins described the experience as easy and said she found the Spectra to be pretty helpful visually. She was able to really see what was going on and Dr. Vieth took the time to explain what the colors and the numbers meant.

“It went really well,” Collins said. “They explained everything well and everything was pretty easy. It was pretty helpful visually. It makes it easy to tell what’s going on.”

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Now Playing: Jon Newman, Digital Product Manager for Air Techniques, discusses the Spectra Caries Detection Aid from the ADA show floor.