Abstract
.Significance: It is not sufficient to detect caries lesions on tooth surfaces; it is also necessary to measure the activity of the lesions to determine if intervention is needed. Changes in the reflectivity of lesion areas during dehydration with forced air at short wavelength infrared (SWIR) wavelengths can be used to assess lesion activity since these changes represent the evaporation dynamics of water from the lesion.Aim: The aim of this study is to develop new optical methods for assessing lesion activity on tooth surfaces utilizing the strong water absorption band near 1950-nm.Approach: The time-resolved reflectivity of 20 active and arrested caries lesions on the surfaces of human extracted teeth was monitored at 1300 to 2000 nm using broadband light sources and an extended range InGaAs camera during drying with air.Results: Multiple parameters representing the rate of change of the lesion reflectivity correlated with the presence of a highly mineralized outer surface zone indicative of lesion arrest measured with x-ray microtomography (microCT). Performance at 1950-nm was higher than for other wavelengths.Conclusions: This study demonstrates that SWIR imaging near 1950-nm has great potential for the assessment of lesion activity.
Highlights
Caries lesions can be arrested by the preferential deposition of mineral at the lesion surface, which inhibits diffusion of fluids into the porous lesion.[1,2,3] Since arrested lesions do not need further intervention, the assessment of lesion activity is essential for clinical diagnosis
Multiple parameters representing the rate of change of the lesion reflectivity correlated with the presence of a highly mineralized outer surface zone indicative of lesion arrest measured with x-ray microtomography
This study demonstrates that short wavelength infrared (SWIR) imaging near 1950-nm has great potential for the assessment of lesion activity
Summary
Caries lesions can be arrested by the preferential deposition of mineral at the lesion surface, which inhibits diffusion of fluids into the porous lesion.[1,2,3] Since arrested lesions do not need further intervention, the assessment of lesion activity is essential for clinical diagnosis. Many lesions have been arrested or do not require intervention. It is difficult to identify active lesions with current diagnostic methods. Accurate assessment of lesion activity, depth, and severity is important for determining whether intervention is necessary. Gold standards for lesion assessment such as transverse microradiography and polarized light microscopy either require destruction of the tooth or in the case of microCT are unsuitable for use in-vivo. New non-destructive diagnostic tools that can assess lesion activity in a single visit are needed. The development of new methods, such as short wavelength infrared (SWIR) imaging, is needed for the clinical assessment of lesion activity to avoid unnecessary cavity preparations
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