Methodology of dental caries detection
AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsShigemi Nagai, Masazumi Nagai
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Abstract
Disclosed are methods for detecting demineralization of a surface of a tooth, comprising a) contacting the tooth of a subject with an orally acceptable, binding composition comprising a binding agent that binds to a demineralized surface of the tooth; b) removing unbound binding compound; c) contacting the tooth with an orally acceptable, detector composition comprising a probe compound that reacts with the binding agent to form a visually detectable reaction product; and d) detecting formation of the reaction product as an indication of the presence or extent of surface demineralization of the tooth. Systems, kits, and compositions for practicing the methods are also provided.
Claims28
A kit for detecting demineralization of a surface of a tooth, comprising a) a first container comprising an orally acceptable, binding composition comprising iron (III) pyrophosphate (Fe(III)-PP);
- and b) a second container comprising an orally acceptable, detector composition comprising gallic acid or an ester thereof that reacts with the Fe(III)-PP to form a visually detectable reaction product.
A method for detecting demineralization of a surface of a tooth, comprising a) contacting the tooth of a subject with an orally acceptable binding composition comprising iron (III) pyrophosphate (Fe(III)-PP) that binds to a demineralized surface of the tooth;
- b) removing unbound Fe(III)-PP;
- c) contacting the tooth with an orally acceptable detector composition comprising gallic acid or an ester thereof that reacts with Fe(III)-PP to form a visually detectable reaction product;
- and d) detecting formation of the reaction product as an indication of the presence or extent of surface demineralization of the tooth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.