Ultrasonic assessment of tooth structure

David W. Blodgett

doi:10.1117/12.472536

27 June 2002 Ultrasonic assessment of tooth structure

David W. Blodgett

Proceedings Volume 4617, Laser Tissue Interaction XIII: Photochemical, Photothermal, and Photomechanical; (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.472536
Event: International Symposium on Biomedical Optics, 2002, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

A means of assessing the internal structure of teeth based upon use of high frequency, highly localized ultrasound (acoustic waves) generated by a short laser pulse is discussed. Some key advantages of laser-generated ultrasound over more traditional contact transducer methods are that it is noncontact and nondestructive in nature and requires no special surface preparation. Optical interferometric detection of ultrasound provides a complementary nondestructive, noncontact technique with a very small detection footprint. This combination of techniques, termed laser-based ultrasonics, holds promise for future in-vivo diagnostics of tooth health. In this paper, initial results using laser-based ultrasound for assessment of dental structures are presented on an extracted human incisor. Results show the technique to be sensitive to the enamel/dentin, dentin/pulp, and dentin/cementum junctions as well as a region of dead tracts in the dentin.

Citation Download Citation

David W. Blodgett "Ultrasonic assessment of tooth structure", Proc. SPIE 4617, Laser Tissue Interaction XIII: Photochemical, Photothermal, and Photomechanical, (27 June 2002); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.472536

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