Trumbull Dentist's 'Canary' Device Spots Cavities Earlier

A Trumbull dentist says he has the first "Canary Early Warning System" in New England.

Dr. Mark Breiner, who practices holistic dentistry at 5520 Park Ave., said the system "introduces an approach to detecting tooth decay without x-rays.  It is named for the idiomatic 'canaries in a coal mine' which were used to warn miners of the presence of dangerous methane gas."

“As a patient, would you want to wait until you had a cavity that needed filling, or would you want to be warned early enough to reverse the damage? There are a host of drawbacks to the traditional methods of diagnosis. This system, which allows us to “see” below the surface of a tooth, is a significant improvement for dentists,” Breiner said.  “Our acquisition of The Canary System is exciting.  We are among the first dozen dentists in the entire country, and the very first in New England, to offer this ground-breaking technology.”

The device utilizes low-power laser light technology to identify the earliest stages of tooth decay.  At such early stages, there are steps patients can take to reverse the damage before a filling is needed:  changes in diet, better home care, use of homeopathic tissue salts, supplementation, and special re-mineralization pastes, he said.

“Approximately 50% of a tooth’s minerals are already lost by the time a traditional X-ray can detect the damage, and by then it’s too late – a filling is needed,” he added.

The Canary System also detects decay in areas not distinguishable in an X-ray.

"While the system will not replace X-rays entirely, it will help reduce the number needed – an advantage particularly beneficial to children," Breiner said.