High-resolution PS-OCT of Enamel Remineralization

Previous studies have demonstrated that Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography (PS-OCT) can be used to image the remineralization of early artificial caries lesions. However, the depth resolution of the imaging system employed in those previous studies was limited and the outer surface structure of the lesions were not resolved as clearly as desired. The purpose of this study was to repeat the earlier remineralization study using a broadband light-source of higher resolution to determine if there can be improved resolution of the remineralized surface zones of the lesions. An all polarization-maintaining fiber based PS-OCT system operating at 1310-nm was used to acquire polarization resolved images of bovine enamel surfaces exposed to a demineralizing solution at pH-4.9 followed by a fluoride containing remineralizing solution at pH-7.0 containing 2-ppm fluoride. The structure of the surface zones could be clearly resolved using PS-OCT in the samples that underwent remineralization. The PS-OCT measurements indicated a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the integrated reflectivity between the severity of the lesions that were exposed to the remineralization solution and those that were not. The lesion depth and mineral loss were also measured with polarized light microscopy and transverse microradiography after sectioning the enamel blocks. These results show that PS-OCT can be used to non-destructively monitor the remineralization potential of anti-caries agents.