3D SE Geometry Imaging of Tooth Outer Surface. An in vitro Study

The necessary condition for a successful restorative procedure in dentistry is the precise mapping of the shape of dental cavities. Objective: The objective of this work was to MR determination of outer surface geometry of the extracted tooth with the use of the 4.7 T research MRI system equipped with Maran DRX console. Method: Prior to the experiment, the first decayed molar tooth was placed in the CuSO4 solution to decrease T1 and degassed to minimize magnetic susceptibility artifacts. 3D SE pulse sequence was used to produce images containing 512x256x64 voxels with dimension of the 30x60x300 mm3. Results: High intensity signal from water in solution together with lack of signal from mineralized tooth tissue produce very good contrast and thus enabled for imaging geometry of outer surfaces of the tooth. Conclusions: In terms of data possessed, MR Microscopy may be also used for quantitative analysis of the root canal cavities shape and volume and for estimation of the quality of the impression mapping methods or an alternative non-impression one in restorative dentistry.