Imaging laser irradiated enamel surfaces with polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography.

Several studies have shown that lasers can be used to modify the surface morphology and chemical composition of tooth enamel to render it less soluble. Other studies have shown that Polarization Sensitive Optical Coherence Tomography (PS-OCT) can be used to non-destructively measure the efficacy of fluoride in inhibiting the development of artificial caries lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine if PS-OCT can be used to measure inhibition of enamel demineralization after CO(2) laser irradiation. Polarized light microscopy and microradiography were used to measure lesion severity on histological thin sections for comparison. PS-OCT was able to measure a significant reduction in the integrated reflectivity due to inhibition by the laser even though the laser modification of the enamel surface caused a slight increase in reflectivity. This study shows that the PS-OCT is well-suited for in vivo measurements of caries inhibition after laser treatments.