Magnetic resonance microimaging of carious teeth.

Three-dimensional (proton) magnetic resonance microimages of a number of extracted teeth (both healthy and carious) were obtained using a Bruker AM300WB magnetic resonance spectrometer fitted with a Bruker microimaging attachment. Full data sets have been acquired as 90-micron 3 voxels to enable high-quality full-surface (external and internal) reconstructions to be computed. Possession of such data has allowed mapping of the complete range of intensities in any selected image slice. The application of artificial color was found to aid the interpretation of both image types. All teeth showed the expected dental morphologies. The carious regions of the diseased teeth gave an intense image that was readily distinguishable from the other soft tissue.