Idmos, the Dundee-based scanning technology group, yesterday confirmed the long-awaited launch of its principal products and said it had received its first order.

Idmos parted company with chief executive Stephen Westwood in July after a 12-month delay in getting the dental caries detection devices to market, and in September it said the products would be introduced at the British Dental Trade Association in Birmingham this week.

It has rechristened the Caries Detection Device CarieScan and the management support system CarieScan Plus.

CarieScan was developed by internationally recognised dental and clinical diagnostics experts Professor Nigel Pitts and Dr Chris Longbottom from Dundee and St Andrews universities, and is based on AC impedance spectroscopy.

It makes possible earlier and more accurate detection of tooth decay than currently possible with any other commercially available system and aims to exploit a global shift towards preventative management of dental decay.

Last month, Denplan signed an agreement to promote the products to its network of 6500 dental practices, representing more than 70% of the UK dental plan market.

Denplan is still awaiting progress on its agreement with US giant Dentsply for the US market.

Graham Lay, chief operating officer, said: "We have worked hard to achieve the launch of the CarieScan products into a significant market, and it is gratifying to achieve the first launch of the product with such a strong strategic partner as Denplan.

"We remain focused on the remaining significant steps to be taken to achieve full global launch and look forward to working with our partners to achieve this."

Dr Roger Matthews, chief dental officer, Denplan, said: "We are extremely impressed with the instruments and the research findings to date and welcome the chance to promote it to our members as a truly innovative aid to early diagnosis and an integral part of preventive practice."

Idmos shares yesterday closed unchanged at 43.5p in London dealing.