Discrimination between intact and decayed pulp regions in carious teeth by ADC mapping.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Dental Research
• Radiology

Background:

• Assessing the functional state of carious teeth is crucial for effective dental treatment.
• Traditional methods may lack precision in evaluating the extent of pulp involvement in caries.
• Advanced imaging techniques offer potential for improved diagnostic capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) mapping, an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method, for functional assessment of carious teeth.
• To determine the ability of ADC mapping to discriminate and localize intact versus decayed regions within dental pulps.
• To correlate MRI findings with histological data and caries severity scores.

Main Methods:

• 38 extracted human teeth with varying caries severity (ICDAS scores 0, 3, 6) were analyzed using 2.35 T MRI.
• Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were calculated from diffusion-weighted images.
• ADC distributions along the pulp were analyzed using a linear regression model and compared with histological findings.

Main Results:

• MRI results showed good agreement with histological analysis.
• Statistically significant differences in ADC values were observed between intact (1.0 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s) and decayed pulp tissue (0.74–0.89 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s).
• The relative decayed region depth increased with ICDAS score, progressing from 3% (ICDAS 3) to 46% (ICDAS 6).

Conclusions:

• Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) mapping is a relevant method for the functional assessment of carious teeth.
• ADC mapping effectively discriminates and localizes intact and decayed regions within dental pulps.
• This advanced MRI technique shows promise for improved diagnosis and management of dental caries.