Depth penetration parameters for scanning the teeth using carbon dioxide laser and X-ray imaging

Abstract

In this study we investigated the effect of J48–1 carbon dioxide (CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> ) laser on the depth penetration in different teeth, namely the incisors, canines, and molars when imaged by using IME-100L Inverter Type Mobile X-Ray Equipment. The objective of the study was to identify the parameters that influence, penetration depth in the teeth and to determine the suitable value of X-ray power in kV and current exposure time in mAs in order to produce high quality images by using X-ray imaging. Forty two teeth samples including 15 molars, 9 canines and 18 incisors were sectioned perpendicularly using CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> laser radiations at wavelength 10.6μm at different power intensities of 10.11W, 10.13W, 11.36W, 11.83W, 12.39W and 13.40W for four different exposure time for 2, 3, 4 and 5 minutes. After being exposed to the CO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> laser beams, the teeth samples were then scanned using the X-ray imaging. From observations, the most suitable parameters for X-ray imaging were 40kV X-ray voltage and current exposure time at 5 mAs. The depth penetration for molar teeth was the least compared to that of the canines and incisors. The relationship between depth penetration and power of laser beam and exposure time were almost linear. As a conclusion, the depth penetration increased with increasing power of laser beam and exposure time. This study is important to identify the appropriate level of power for laser beam for imaging the teeth.