title: On the sensitivity of thermophotonic lock-in imaging and polarized Raman spectroscopy to early dental caries diagnosis.
abstract: Dental caries is the leading cause of tooth loss, which can promptly be prevented if detected in early stages of progression. Unfortunately, conventional diagnostic modalities currently used in dentistry lack the sensitivity to detect early caries. The authors' intention is to compare the ability of polarized Raman spectroscopy and thermophotonic imaging to make early caries diagnosis. Extracted human teeth with no visible stain or defects were artificially demineralized in accordance to a well-known protocol in dentistry for simulated early caries development at several demineralization stages. Samples were then inspected using polarized Raman spectroscopy and thermophotonic imaging. The sensitivities of these two diagnostic modalities are compared, and the results are verified using transverse micro-radiography. It was found that compared to polarized Raman spectroscopy, thermophotonic imaging exhibits superior sensitivity to very early stages of demineralization.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Center for Advanced Diffusion-Wave Technologies, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G8, Canada.
authors.forename: Nima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tabatabaei
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandelis
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dehghany
authors.forename: Kirk H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Michaelian
authors.forename: Bennet T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Amaechi
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007259:Infrared Rays; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013817:Thermography / Q000295:instrumentation*