Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Jul 12;13(7):8928-49.
doi: 10.3390/s130708928.

Dental optical coherence tomography

Yao-Sheng Hsieh  1 , Yi-Ching Ho, Shyh-Yuan Lee, Ching-Cheng Chuang, Jui-che Tsai, Kun-Feng Lin, Chia-Wei Sun
Affiliations
Review

Dental optical coherence tomography

Yao-Sheng Hsieh et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

This review paper describes the applications of dental optical coherence tomography (OCT) in oral tissue images, caries, periodontal disease and oral cancer. The background of OCT, including basic theory, system setup, light sources, spatial resolution and system limitations, is provided. The comparisons between OCT and other clinical oral diagnostic methods are also discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
System setup of TD-OCT (PD: photodiode).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
System setup of SD-OCT.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Schematic diagram of a tooth structure.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Images of a distinct enamel crack. (A) A visual examination of enamel crack. (B) A SS-OCT image along the red line in (A). The crack extended to the DEJ. (C) A CLSM image corresponding to the cross-sectioned enamel crack along the red line in (A). The crack ended up to the DEJ. (D) A SS-OCT image of a sample determined as a deep enamel crack transillumination. The crack was seen extending beyond the DEJ. (E) A CLSM image corresponding to the cross-sectioned enamel crack in (D). The crack penetrated deep into the dentin. (F) A SS-OCT image of a sample determined as a superficial enamel crack with transillumination. The crack had extended into the DEJ. (G) A CLSM image corresponding to the cross-sectioned enamel crack in (F). The crack had not extended into the DEJ (E: enamel; D: dentine; DEJ: dentin-enamel junction) (reprinted from reference [49]).
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
OCT images revealed microleakage between composite resin restoration and the tooth. (C: composite restoration; E: enamel; D: dentin) (reprinted from reference [52]).
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Photogragh (A) and SS-OCT image (B) of Class V restoration in the central incisor. Arrow shows microleakage formation beneath resin material (G: gingival; RBC: resin based composite; E: enamel; D: dentin; DEJ: dental enamel junction) (reprinted from reference [54]).
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
In vivo OCT image of microleakage detected by a custom-made dental optical probe (reprinted from reference [55]).
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Site of pulp exposure. (A) Histologic cross-section of pulp exposure. (B) The pulp and dentin were clearly delineated in the OCT image (P: pulp; D: dentin; PE: pulp exposure) (reprinted from reference [56]).
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
OCT images of the carious lesion and sound regions. (a) Visualization of a slightly demineralized tooth. (b) SS-OCT image obtained at line 1 in A. The presence of demineralization was determined as a strong scattering signal from the bottom of the fissure (arrow 1). Reflecting OCT signal from the enamel was in some part lacking elliptically beneath the occlusal fissure (arrow 2, dotted line). (c) Cross-sectioned view at line 1 in A. (d) CLSM image correspond to the cross-sectioned “enamel demineralization” at line 1 in A. CLSM observation clearly confirmed the presence of “hidden lesion” (arrows 1 and 2). Compared with B, the hidden lesion located at the outer enamel was detectable in SS-OCT (arrow 1); however, deeper lesions located near the EDJ could not be visualized in SS-OCT (arrow 2). Since the EDJ vicinity appeared roughened (arrow 3) some of which were reached to the dentine (reprinted from reference [65]).
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Measuring demineralization by polarized light microscopy (PLM), transverse microradiography (TMR), and PS-OCT images. The black arrows indicated topical fluride (F), protected sound dentin (S), and untreated demineralization area (D). PLM (A) shows the lesion depth on both sides (F and D) of the sound protected area. TMR (B) and PS-OCT (C) images are also shown along with the false color intensity scales. PLM and PS-OCT were superior to TMR as a tool for measuring lesion depth and cementum layer thicknesses because these measurements were much higher sensitivity to mineral loss (reprinted from reference [72]).
Figure 11.
Figure 11.
Images of a periodontal ligament. (A) Radiograph. (B) OCT. (C) Logging OCT images; the boundary of each tissue can be identified more clearly (reprinted from reference [82]).
Figure 12.
Figure 12.
OCT image of subgingival calculus. (A) Subgingival calculus without coverage of gingiva. (B) Subgingival calculus covered with gigniva (reprinted from reference [28]).
Figure 13.
Figure 13.
Histological images of the (a) normal, (b) MiD, (c) MoD, (d) ES-SCC, and (e) WD-SCC samples (reprinted from reference [95]).
Figure 14.
Figure 14.
SS-OCT scanned images of the (a) normal control and biopsied oral (b) MiD, (c) MoD, (d) ES-SCC, and (e) WD-SCC lesions. Their histological images were shown in Figure 13(a–e) (reprinted from reference [95]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Huang D., Swanson E.A., Lin C.P., Schuman J.S., Stinson W.G., Chang W., Hee M.R., Flotte T., Gregory K., Puliafito C.A., Fujimoto J.G. Optical coherence tomography. Science. 1991;254:1178–1181. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Poneros J.M., Brand S., Bouma B.E., Tearney G.J., Compton C.C., Nishioka N.S. Diagnosis of specialized intestinal metaplasia by optical coherence tomography. Gastroenterology. 2001;120:7–12. - PubMed
    1. Evans J.A., Poneros J.M., Bouma B.E., Bressner J., Halpern E.F., Shishkov M., Lauwers G.Y., Kenudson M.M., Nishioka N.S., Tearney G.J. Optical coherence tomography to identify intramucosal carcinoma and high-grade dysplasia in Barrett's esophagus. Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2006;4:38–43. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Smith P.W., Lee K., Guo S., Zhang J., Osann K., Chen Z., Messadi D. In vivo diagnosis of oral dysplasia and malignancy using optical coherence tomography: Preliminary studies in 50 patients. Lasers Surg. Med. 2009;41:353–357. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang Y., Bower B.A., Izatt J.A., Tan O., Huang D. Retinalblood flow measurement by circumpapillary Fourier domain Doppler optical coherence tomography. J. Biomed. Opt. 2008;13 doi: 10.1117/1.2998480. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms