title: Enamel thickness measurement with a high frequency ultrasonic transducer-based hand-held probe for potential application in the dental veneer placing procedure.
abstract: This study presents a novel approach to measure the enamel thickness potentially applicable to the veneer placing procedure. All experiments have been carried out on the extracted human teeth, using a high frequency ultrasonic transducer (50 MHz, Sonix, Springfield, VA, USA). The enamel thickness measurement results obtained with high positional accuracy by a scanning acoustic microscope (Tessonics AM1103, Windsor, ON, Canada) were compared with the measurements conducted in a hand-held mode by using the same transducer placed in a custom fixture. Finally, to validate the ultrasonic measuring results, the samples were cut down the long axis to expose the cross-section. The enamel thickness was measured in several points along the selected part of the exposed cross-section by using an optical microscope (Stemi SV 11, Carl Zeiss AG, Jena, Germany). The values of the enamel thickness received by using the hand-held probe vs. the acoustic microscope were in close proximity (~10% difference) and were also satisfactory close to the enamel thickness results obtained from the direct cross-sectional measurements (~12% difference). The authors suggested a measuring procedure that allows avoiding errors related to the ultrasonic beam localization on the tooth surface. The high feasibility of the ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements in a hand-held mode was demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. bartosz.slak@gmail.com
authors.forename: Bartosz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ślak
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ambroziak
authors.forename: Emil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Strumban
authors.forename: Roman Gr
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Maev
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D003729:Dental Care; D003743:Dental Enamel; D003801:Dental Veneers; D003813:Dentistry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014077:Tooth Erosion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014159:Transducers; D014464:Ultrasonic Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014463:Ultrasonography