Caries is detected visually, often supported by palpation and conventional radiographs, and is characterized by reduced Xray absorption. The fringe regions of carious lesions, however, are hardly distinguished. Therefore, the treatment is usually suboptimal, because either a substantial part of healthy crown is removed or the carious lesion is still partially present. This in vitro study applied conventional micro computed tomography to quantify remaining carious tissue after treatment with respect to the volume of tissue mechanically removed. For this purpose, 16 teeth with 23 lesions were treated by an experienced dentist. The teeth were imaged before and after caries removal using a SKYSCAN 1275 system, Bruker, Belgium. Pre- and post-treatment datasets were rigidly registered. Manual segmentation gave rise to the volume of the remaining carious tissue. Twenty of the 23 lesions had a residual carious lesion that amounted to less than 3% of the mechanically erased tissue. Still, residual caries with volumes between 0.8 and 3.4 mm3 was found in three cases. Thus, more detailed microtomography studies are to be performed to give the desired feedback for caries therapy to clinicians.
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