Differences between young and older teeth structure in MRM

Magnetic Resonance Microscopy (MRM) may be used for quantitative analyses of shape and volume of a tooth. Objectives: MR images using 4.7 T research MR system (Resonance Instruments Ltd.) were obtained to compare thickness of first upper premolar's walls of young (TY - before 16 years old) and older (TO - over 60 years old) patients. Methods: Prior to the experiment, the samples were placed in H2O bath and degassed to minimize magnetic susceptibility artifacts. A multislice Spin Echo based pulse sequence was used to produce images 128x128 pixels, with in plane resolution about 200 micrometers and slice thickness of 1.2 mm. The echo time TE was 28 ms and repetition time 2 s. The transverse slices through teeth were analyzed using IDL 5.5 (Research Systems) based software. Wall thickness (mm) of the two teeth analyzed (TY and TO) were compared (mean and SD). Results: TY=0.95 mm, SD 0.675; TO=0.98 mm, SD 0.979. Conclusion: Results indicate the possibility of use MRM as the original method of visualization and tooth structure registration in the field of endodontic diagnostics and treatment.

Research was supported by grant No. 2 P05C 069 26.