New diagnostic method for dental caries applying photothermal reaction on teeth to Nd:YAG laser irradiation

Akinori Nagasawa; Kazuichi Katoh

doi:10.1117/12.174280

1 May 1994 New diagnostic method for dental caries applying photothermal reaction on teeth to Nd:YAG laser irradiation

Akinori Nagasawa, Kazuichi Katoh

Proceedings Volume 2163, Medical Imaging 1994: Physics of Medical Imaging; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.174280
Event: Medical Imaging 1994, 1994, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

The authors spectral analyses for each dental structure proposed the capability that the photo thermal reaction on teeth to laser exposure might be applicable for the detection of dental caries. This experiment was designed intending to realize the prospect on the fundamental experiment. Nd:YAG laser was selected for the appropriate wavelength for this experiment. When the occlusal surface of an extracted human tooth was exposed to a fine shot of the laser beam, the temperature of the occlusal surface was measured with an infrared thermometer and a real time infrared thermocamera, and the relative intensity of the transillumination of the laser beam at the lateral surface of the subject tooth was evaluated as a thermal data using a thermocouple. As the result of this experiment, the photo-thermal reaction of carious teeth following exposure to the Nd:YAG laser beam was different so contrastively from that of intact teeth that this method was successfully applied to the detection of dental caries, and the carious site was apparently discriminated as a thermal pattern of high temperature on the real time thermogram. The detectability for dental caries in this method was so sensitive as to identify even a fine dental anomaly which was hardly discriminated from a normal tooth in the usual roentgenography. The advantages in this method are summarized as follows : Much more sensitive for detection of dental caries than roentgenography, Complete safety, Simplicity in technique, ® Not only the existence of dental caries but also the decayed area can be detected, ® In addition to these, the results of this experiment hopefully propose the expectation that this method might lead to an epoch-making technique for evaluating biochemical quality of teeth.

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Akinori Nagasawa and Kazuichi Katoh "New diagnostic method for dental caries applying photothermal reaction on teeth to Nd:YAG laser irradiation", Proc. SPIE 2163, Medical Imaging 1994: Physics of Medical Imaging, (1 May 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.174280

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KEYWORDS

Teeth

Dental caries

Nd:YAG lasers

Laser dentistry

Laser therapeutics

Laser beam diagnostics

Diagnostics

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