Abstract
Introduction
Current methods for the detection of enamel cracks are not very sensitive. Optical
coherence tomography (OCT) is a promising diagnostic method for creating cross-sectional
imaging of internal biological structures by measuring echoes of backscattered light.
In this study, swept-source OCT (SS-OCT), a variant of OCT that sweeps the near-infrared
wavelength at a rate of 30 kHz over a span of 110 nm centered at 1,330 nm, was examined
as a diagnostic tool for enamel cracks.
Methods
Twenty extracted human teeth were visually evaluated without magnification. SS-OCT
was conducted on locations in which the presence of an enamel crack was suspected
under visual inspection using a photocuring unit as transillumination. The teeth were
then sectioned with a diamond saw and directly viewed under a confocal laser scanning
microscope (CLSM).
Results
Using SS-OCT, the presence and extent of enamel cracks were clearly visualized on
images based on backscattering signals. The extension of enamel cracks beyond the
dentinoenamel junction could also be confirmed. The diagnostic accuracy of SS-OCT
was shown to be superior to that of conventional visual inspection—the area under
the receiver operating characteristic curve—for the detection of enamel crack and
whole-thickness enamel crack; visual inspection: 0.69 and 0.56, SS-OCT: 0.85 and 0.77,
respectively).
Conclusions
Enamel cracks can be clearly detected because of increased backscattering of light
matching the location of the crack, and the results correlated well with those from
the CLSM.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 23, 2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
