Integrated coherent Raman scattering and multiphoton microscopy for label-free imaging of the dentin in the tooth

Abstract

We report the implementation of a unique multimodal nonlinear optical microscopy (i.e., coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS), second harmonic generation (SHG), third harmonic generation (THG) and two photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF)) platform for label-free imaging of dentin. A picosecond tunable laser together with an OPO is used as the excitation source for simultaneously multimodal imaging. CARS shows similar information as TPEF in dentin, but it has a higher sectioning performance than TPEF and thus it is a good alternative for TPEF. Microtubule structure is revealed nearby dentin enamel junction (DEJ) from the multimodal images. This work demonstrates that combining different nonlinear optical imaging modalities can provide new insights into the understanding of morphological structures and biochemical/biomolecular distributions of the dentine without the need of labeling.