[Measurement and analysis of optical density in dentine of 32 primary teeth]
Dan Liu1, Fang Yu, Yu-mei Zhao
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry, College of Stomatology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China. liudan@mail.tongji.edu.cn
Purpose:
To study the optical density (OD) of primary dental dentine and provide data for further research.
Methods:
The Digora system of dental digital radiography was used to acquire digital radiographic images of cross sections from 32 deciduous maxillary central incisors, and to measure the OD values of different depth (outer, middle and inner layers) and four sides (mesial, distal, labial and palatal sides) in dentine. The difference was analyzed with one-way ANOVA and SNK using SAS 6.12 software package.
Results:
The OD value of inner layer dentine was significantly lower than that of outer and middle layers (P=0.002), but there was no significant difference among four sides of dentine (P=0.0997).
Conclusions:
OD value is an indirect physical quantity of dental mineralization, it provides a convenient digital indicator for the research of dental hard tissues.
