The corono-apically varying ultrasonic velocity in human hard dental tissues.

The speed of ultrasound at 20 MHz is measured for hard dental tissues inside human teeth. This includes the cementum, for which no data are available. The spatial distribution, extrema, and means of the longitudinal ultrasound velocity (LUV) are determined with an emphasis on the apical thirds and an extended spectrum. Tissue areas are investigated by optical means and by acoustical scanning, in order to compare apical regions-of-interest with the complete mineralized wet porous tissue that lies beneath the enamel cap. The maximal LUV in a single dentin specimen varies from 3903 m/s to 4226 m/s. The dentin's frequency distribution of LUV at 20 degrees C exhibits a predominant peak feature comprising several Voigt functions. Introducing standardized relative tooth width portions, the corono-apical decrease in LUV of 21 specimens is approximated by LUV=4224 - (257* ln(y)) along reduced distances in dentin. Abnormal teeth require a higher resolution and an approximate equation of the form LUV= (sigma(ai*yi))/(1 + sigma(bi+1*y(i+1. It can be used each time the corono-apical variation has to be quantified in each of the three tissues. Ten coefficients are numerically exemplified. An error evaluation is performed, which denotes errors of 0.2% +/- 1.3% (enamel), -0.1% +/- 1.6% (cementum), and acceptable residual errors for dentin.