Transmission illumination of teeth. A system for operative dentistry procedures

In an in vitro trial, transillumination provided good, comfortable vision of an operating area both during cavity preparation and the insertion of adhesive restorative materials. Secondly, transillumination provided better differentiation of hard tissues and their condition than incident illumination; this was particularly noticeable in deciding on the presence of caries at the dentino-enamel junction. The most suitable colour was in the green range of the spectrum and a variable intensity control was desirable. With refinement, this system could facilitate operative dentistry particularly for difficult situations.