title: Diagnosis of vertical root fractures with optical coherence tomography.
abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the ability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to image vertical root fractures (VRFs). Twenty-five mandibular premolars were prepared to size 50. Five teeth served as controls. Group 1 (n = 10) was treated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and ultrasonic irrigation, whereas group 2 (n = 10) received no further treatments. Teeth from groups 1 and 2 were fractured, and the presence of a fracture line was demonstrated microscopically. Control group teeth were not subjected to any force. Teeth were pooled and scanned with an OCT fiber. The resulting video files were blindly interpreted by 2 observers. No fractures were detected in the control teeth. The overall sensitivity for detection of VRFs with OCT was 93% for group 1 and 84% group 2, whereas the specificity was 95% for group 1 and 96% for group 2. OCT is a promising nondestructive imaging method for the diagnosis of VRFs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cariology Endodontology Pedodontology, Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. hshemesh@acta.nl
authors.forename: Hagay
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shemesh
authors.forename: Gijs
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Soest
authors.forename: Min-Kai
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Wesselink
mesh_terms: D001641:Bicuspid; D004492:Edetic Acid; D006801:Humans; D007259:Infrared Rays; D012388:Root Canal Irrigants; D018915:Root Canal Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000293:injuries*; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy; D014741:Video Recording
chemical_list: D012388:Root Canal Irrigants; D004492:Edetic Acid