Multispectral SWIR images of the pulp-chamber of posterior teeth in vitro

Abstract

Intraoral imaging of teeth with near-IR light provides increased contrast of dental caries and restorative materials compared to visible inspection and digital radiography. The objective of this study was to investigate the near-IR optical properties of the dental pulp-chamber floor, walls and canal orifices. We imaged in vitro extracted human posterior teeth at 1300-nm and 1500-1700-nm in reflectance and transillumination and compared the tissues properties with visible light images and quantitative light fluorescence. Transillumination of posterior teeth at both 1300-nm and 1500-1700-nm yielded significantly higher contrast between the pulp-chamber floor and walls than all other methods.