Abstract
Erosive tissue-loss in dental enamel is of significant clinical concern because the net loss of enamel is irreversible, however, initial erosion is reversible. Micro-hardness testing is a standard method for measuring initial erosion, but its invasive nature has led to the investigation of alternative measurement techniques. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an attractive alternative because of its ability to non-invasively image three-dimensional volumes. In this study, a four-dimensional OCT system is used to longitudinally measure bovine enamel undergoing a continuous erosive challenge. A new method of analyzing 3D OCT volumes is introduced that compares intensity projections of the specimen surface by calculating the slope of a linear regression line between corresponding pixel intensities and the associated correlation coefficient. The OCT correlation measurements are compared to micro-hardness data and found to exhibit a linear relationship. The results show that this method is a sensitive technique for the investigation of the formation of early stage erosive lesions.
Highlights
The loss of dental hard tissue is multifactorial, contributed to by abrasion between teeth and other materials, attrition and acid erosion
The enamel dentine junction (EDJ) is visible in specimens a)-g)
It is possible that this represents the EDJ, the appearance is not consistent with specimens a)-g)
Summary
The loss of dental hard tissue is multifactorial, contributed to by abrasion between teeth and other materials, attrition and acid erosion. Dental erosion can be defined as an irreversible loss of dental hard tissue due to a chemical process and without bacterial involvement [1]. During the early stages of erosion the tooth surface undergoes a superficial partial dissolution of mineral [2] leaving a partially intact, but softened layer of enamel. Detection of erosion at this stage is critical because the remaining softened enamel can serve as a scaffold for new mineral. The loss of enamel volume is characterised by a persistent softened layer at the surface of the remaining tissue [6,7]. Quantification of erosion is necessary to provide further insight into the chemical process of erosion, and ways in which it can be modified, reduced or prevented
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