Abstract
Enamel cracks generated in the anterior teeth not only affect the function but also the aesthetics of the teeth. Chair-side tooth enamel crack detection is essential for clinicians to formulate treatment plans and prevent related dental disease. This study aimed to develop a dental imaging system using a near-IR light source to detect enamel cracks and to investigate the relationship between anterior enamel cracks and age in vivo. A total of 68 subjects were divided into three groups according to their age: young, middle, and elderly. Near-infrared radiation of 850 nm was used to identify enamel cracks in anterior teeth. The results of the quantitative examination showed that the number of enamel cracks on the teeth increased considerably with age. For the qualitative examination, the results indicated that there was no significant relationship between the severity of the enamel cracks and age. So, it can be concluded that the prevalence of anterior cracked tooth increased significantly with age in the young and middle age. The length of the anterior enamel cracks tended to increase with age too; however, this result was not significant. The silicon charge-coupled device (CCD) with a wavelength of 850 nm has a good performance in the detection of enamel cracks and has very good clinical practicability.
Highlights
Tooth cracks have been investigated by many clinicians for a long time
In several previous studies that used near-infrared rays (Near-IR) to detect enamel cracks or defects, the Near-IR at 1300 nm or 1310 nm was selected; the enamel was almost transparent at this wavelength, which was more conducive to the detection of tooth defects [16,17,18,19]
The crack length was taken as the standard to measure the severity of the enamel crack, and the results showed that the crack length did not increase significantly with age
Summary
Tooth cracks have been investigated by many clinicians for a long time. In 1954, Thoma and Goldman defined “fissured fracture” as a crack that existed in the crown of a tooth, which could be found only in enamel or in enamel and dentin [1]. Enamel cracks on teeth are stained, which can affect dental aesthetics. According to the previous studies, transillumination, quantitative lightinduced fluorescence technology with a digital camera (QLF-D), and swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) were all declared as effective methods to detect dental cracks [2,3,4]. If the patient’s enamel cracks can be detected in accurately real time and by chair side, this will be helpful for the dentist’s diagnosis and treatment plan
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