SWIR Imaging of Lesions on Tooth Surfaces

Fried, Daniel, Univ. of California, San Francisco

doi:10.1117/3.2604326.ch17

Book: Short-Wavelength Infrared Windows for Biomedical Applications

Editor(s): Laura A. Sordillo; Peter P. Sordillo

Chapter Author(s): Daniel Fried

Published: 2021

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2604326.ch17

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

Dental enamel is almost completely transparent near 1300 nm in the shortwavelength infrared (SWIR). Therefore, SWIR imaging is ideally suited for screening for tooth decay or dental caries. It is also well-suited for imaging cracks in teeth, identifying composite restorations, and providing very highcontrast images of early demineralization. Reflectance and multiple geometries of transillumination are practical for imaging teeth for the detection of caries lesions on tooth proximal (between teeth) and occlusal (top of crown) surfaces. SWIR imaging offers many advantages over radiography and conventional visual and tactile methods for the detection of dental caries, including reduced exposure to ionizing radiation. SWIR is more sensitive than radiographs for the detection of caries lesions, particularly for occlusal lesions, the most common lesions, where the overlapping topography of the crown interferes with radiographs.