Monitoring of Simulated Erosive Tooth Wear by Cross-Polarization Optical Coherence Tomography

Abstract

Erosive tooth wear (ETW) is an emerging dental condition manifested clinically as tooth surface loss, eventually impairing the teeth’s structural integrity, function, and esthetics. Both research and practice are in need of a quantitative, non-destructive method to monitor ETW. Cross-polarization optical coherence tomography (CP-OCT), an advanced imaging tool, shows great potential to fulfill this need, but its feasibility and shortcomings remain unclear. In this dissertation, I explored the capability of CP-OCT to monitor ETW in three in vitro studies, one per chapter. Chapter 2 investigated the effects of enamel surface roughness and dental erosion severity on CP-OCT dental surface loss measurements. Chapter 3 tested the effects of enamel surface roughness and dental erosion on CP-OCT enamel thickness measurements at different simulated wear levels. Chapter 4 explored the ability of CP-OCT to quantify the thickness of natural and wornout enamel surfaces and to estimate longitudinally the wear depths resulting from simulated wear. I concluded: (1) enamel surface roughness did not affect CP-OCT measurements of enamel surface loss, however, the estimated error limited the appropriate assessment of the initial stages of dental erosion surface loss using CP-OCT; (2) enamel surface roughness and dental erosion did not affect CP-OCT enamel thickness measurements, and the CP-OCT differentiated the simulated enamel wear levels; and (3) CP-OCT quantified thickness of natural enamel before, during, and after the tooth wear simulation and allowed wear depth estimation following the simulated wear.