Tooth enamel thickness measurement by ultrasound imaging method

Abstract

Tooth enamel thickness measurement is of value to archaeologists in classifying hominoid primates. Traditional methods use destructive means of sawing through teeth samples and optically measure enamel thickness. Only in cases where samples were naturally fractured can a direct estimation be made. Experiments were conducted using a pulsed ultrasound technique to measure tooth enamel thickness nondestructively. The experiment used pulsed focused ultrasound transducer and composite scanning techniques to construct images of tooth enamel surface and enamel dentine interface. The ultrasound imaging results clearly showed the caption of tooth enamel interfaces and enabled the calculation of enamel thickness.