In vitro tomographic image of human pulp-dentin complex: optical coherence tomography and histology

Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a noninvasive imaging method, was used in this work to image the pulp-dentin complex. Pulp and dentin are integrally connected in the sense that physiologic and pathologic reactions in one of the tissues will also affect the other.

An OCT system with 6-mum spatial resolution at 800 nm was used to image the pulp-dentin complex of in vitro samples. Five intact human maxillary premolars scheduled for surgical extraction were used in this in vitro study. The occlusal surfaces of teeth were polished with wet 600-, 1,000-, and 1,200-grit aluminum oxide abrasive paper perpendicular to the long axis of teeth, producing a plane on that surface. The images of pulp-dentin complex were taken by scanning the occlusal surface in a mesiodistal direction. The laser penetrated into the teeth structure and a tomographic image of pulp-dentin complex, parallel to the long axis of teeth, was obtained. Histological and OCT images were analyzed and compared.

The results showed the capability of the OCT technique to generate images of the boundaries of pulp and its relation to the dentin. It could be clearly seen that the OCT image provided the insight into dentinal substrate about 0.65-mm deep (corrected for the dentin refractive index).

OCT can be used in the future to prevent iatrogenic exposures of the pulp, complementing other existing methods, and will permit a more predictive prognosis of treatments.