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Published on: May 31, 2017
Visualization of carious lesions with polarized and depolarized light microscopy
Julia Grundmann1,2, Jonas Golde2,3,4, Svea Steuer3
1TU Dresden, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Policlinic of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Pediatric Dentistry, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
Polarized light microscopy (PLM) is an established method in dental histology for investigating the ultrastructure and carious process of teeth. This study introduces a novel approach for measuring the degree of polarization (DOP) in a modified PLM setup and uses the DOP to assess the changes of the optical properties of enamel and dentin due to caries. The validation is provided by a comparison with complementary imaging methods, i.e. standard PLM and µCT. The results show that demineralization is reliably displayed by the DOP in accordance with the common imaging methods, and that this quantitative analysis of depolarization allows the characterization of the different pathohistological zones of caries.
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