Advanced Imaging Towards a Better Diagnostics of Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation

Objectives: To investigate the use of Optical Coherence Tomography imaging in dentistry as an adjunct clinical diagnostic tool for MIH and other enamel defects.
Methods: MIH affected 1st permanent molar teeth (N>60) and 3 control 1st permanent molar teeth were collected under ethical approval. Photographic and radiographic images of the samples were taken. The MIH lesions were categorised using the mDDE index. Samples were then imaged using OCT (VivoSight OCT Scanner), with each lesion scanned separately (N>137). The plotted scattering intensity profiles of MIH and control teeth were compared.
Results: The OCT scattering intensity profiles for both control and MIH lesions were markedly different. In addition, different empirical markers were observed for different types of MIH defect. This led us to establish scattering fingerprints for each type of MIH lesion. Sixty percent of the scans showed that the markers represent the type of lesion accurately A multi-assessor analysis followed by a kappa analysis was carried to evaluate the selectivity and accuracy of the makers.
Conclusions: OCT shows significant potential to be a safe and useful diagnostic method when diagnosing MIH lesions. The definition of specific scattering markers for each type of MIH lesions will enable us to bring this technique one-step closer to the clinic.