[Non-destructive ultrasonic technique of enamel thickness measurement]

An ultrasonic technique of enamel thickness measurement has been proposed. In this technique, a thin tray with a hole is placed on the surface of the tooth and the tip of the ultrasonic probe is inserted in this hole to prevent lateral shift of the tip during adjustment of angular position of the probe. Results of the ultrasonic measurements carried out on the extracted teeth with the enamel layer thickness in a range of 1-0.3 mm and the inclination angle up to 0.1 show that the relative thickness measurement error does not exceed ± 2-3%. Typical deviation between the ultrasonic data and the results of the destructive evaluation of the specimens is about ± 0.05 mm.