Hate going to the dentist? The CarieScan can detect cavities before they become a problem by sending a tiny electrical current through a tooth, making those visits to the chair less likely to involve major excavation. CarieScan can detect small changes in resistance caused by the presence of water in a tooth, signs that the early stages of your teeth rotting out has begun. This little gizmo might make it so you won't have to face that whining drill as much, or maybe never.

Its makers say it works better than laser devices that do basically the same thing, improving those devices' 30 to 40% false positive rate to a mere 10% for the CarieScan. The dentist can either read the results on the CarieScan device itself, or with the CarieScan Plus, the data is wirelessly transmitted to a handheld display. You might not want to try this at home, unless you have an extra $4000 lying around. Sure beats X-Rays. [Technology Review and CarieScan]

Tags: gadgets