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Assessment of the dentin‐pulp complex response to caries by ADC mapping
Author(s) -
Vidmar Jernej,
Cankar Ksenija,
Nemeth Lidija,
Serša Igor
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
nmr in biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.278
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1099-1492
pISSN - 0952-3480
DOI - 10.1002/nbm.2770
Subject(s) - demineralization , dentin , pulp (tooth) , dentistry , effective diffusion coefficient , molar , medicine , orthodontics , nuclear medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , enamel paint , radiology
The prognostic potential of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) mapping was studied as complemented by high‐resolution 3D T 1 ‐weighted MRI in the assessment of dentin‐pulp complex response to caries. Twenty‐six extracted human teeth, with or without caries lesions of different grades in accord with the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), were analyzed by high‐resolution MRI at 2.35 T. A signal rise in demineralized hard dental tissues in high‐resolution T 1 ‐weighted MR images enabled assessment of the demineralization depth over the whole range of ICDAS scores. ADC maps of the teeth were calculated from corresponding diffusion‐weighted images of four different b values: 0, 132, 317, 635 s/mm 2 . These maps enabled reliable differentiation between intact (ADC > 1.0·10 ‐9 m 2 /s) and affected (ADC < 1.0·10 ‐9 m 2 /s) regions of dental pulp. Linear regression analyses of demineralization depth in relation to ICDAS score and then also to average ADC of dental pulp showed that a demineralization depth increase of one millimeter corresponds to an ICDAS score increase of 1.2 and an average ADC decrease of 0.07·10 ‐9 m 2 /s. Results of the study indicate that the average ADC value of dental pulp could be used as a potential marker to assess tissue response to caries comparable to that of ICDAS scoring. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.