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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Precision of In Vivo Quantitative Tooth Wear Measurement Using Intra-Oral Scans
Published on: July 12, 2022
Measurement of the refractive index of human teeth by optical coherence tomography
Zhuo Meng1, X Steve Yao, Hui Yao
1Tianjin University, College of Precision Instrument and Opto-electronics Engineering, Optical Polarization Research Center and Key Laboratory of Opto-electronics Information Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Tianjin, China. tjictom@gmail.com
Abstract:
We describe a novel method based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the accurate measurement of the refractive index of in vitro human teeth. We obtain the refractive indices of enamel, dentin, and cementum to be 1.631+/-0.007, 1.540+/-0.013, and 1.582+/-0.010, respectively. The profile of the refractive index is readily obtained via an OCT B scan across a tooth. This method can be used to study the refractive index changes caused by dental decay and therefore has great potential for the clinical diagnosis of early dental caries.

