A FIBEROPTIC SETUP FOR QUANTIFICATION OF ROOT SURFACE DEMINERALIZATION

A fiber-optic fluorescence observation (FOFO) technique has been devel oped for the quantification of demineralized root dentin, The method w as tested on 40 specimens of in vitro demineralized parts of human roo t dentin, Fluorescein sodium salt was used as a penetrating dye, The f luorescein sodium salt was excited using Light around 465 nm. The fluo rescence signal around 527 nm measured for demineralized dentin was co rrected for lamp output and then divided by the corrected fluorescence signal for the sound control dentin on the same root, resulting in a FOFO-value. FOFO-values correlate linearly (r = 0.91) with mineral los s measured by transverse microradiography. Therefore, it was concluded that the FOFO-technique provides a good, non-destructive measure of t he severeness of in vitro demineralized human root dentin, and is appl icable on bulk dentin. Future work on natural lesions in vivo will be needed to investigate the applicability of the technique in a clinical situation.