Application of Near-Infrared Technique in Studying Dental Lesions

摘要

NIR technique depends on scattering and absorption of sound enamel, dentin and damaged tissues in NIR wavelengths. Several researches have indicated that the optical properties of sound and demineralized enamel-dentin in NIR wavelengths are so different. In this study, two optical systems consisting of the transillumination and scattering methods were built to observe the approximal and occlusal of teeth in that order by 850 nm. The NIR images detected from these systems have high contrast. The areas suspected to be the demineralized enamel are distinctly distinguished from the slain and pigmentation because the demineralization areas are a lot darker than the surrounding areas in NIR images. In the clinical examination by using visible light, the early tooth lesions will be difficult to detect if they do not appear on the surface of the tooth. But under NIR illumination, the early tooth lesions are observed clearly in NIR images.