Three-Dimensional Assessment of Dental Enamel Microcrack Progression After Orthodontic Bracket Debonding Using Optical Coherence Tomography

Ahmed Haj Hamdan ¹

Sm Abu Saleah ²

Daewoon Seong ³

Naresh Kumar Ravichandran ⁴

Ruchire Eranga Wijesinghe ^{5, 6}

Sang-Yeob Han ³

Jeehyun Kim ³

Mansik Jeon ³

Hyo-Sang Park ¹

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Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41940, Republic of Korea |

ICT Convergence Research Center, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea |

School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, College of IT Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80, Daehak-ro, Buk-gu, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea |

⁴

Center for Scientific Instrumentation, Korea Basic Science Institute, 169-148 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34133, Republic of Korea |

⁵

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Malabe 10115, Sri Lanka |

⁶

Center for Excellence in Informatics, Electronics & Transmission (CIET), Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Malabe 10115, Sri Lanka |

Publication type: Journal Article

Publication date: 2024-12-30

MDPI

Journal: Journal of Functional Biomaterials

scimago Q2

SJR: 0.722

CiteScore: 4.6

Impact factor: 5

ISSN: 20794983

DOI: 10.3390/jfb16010007

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Abstract

The current study aimed to quantify the length progression of enamel microcracks (EMCs) after debonding metal and ceramic brackets, implementing OCT as a diagnostic tool. The secondary objectives included a three-dimensional assessment of EMC width and depth and the formation of new EMCs. OCT imaging was performed on 16 extracted human premolars before bonding and after debonding. Debonding was conducted with a universal Instron machine, with ARI values recorded. Additionally, 2D and 3D OCT images were employed to detect EMC formation and progression. Enface images quantified the length, width, and number of EMCs, and the length and width were analyzed using Image J (1.54f) and MATLAB (R2014b), respectively. Sagittal cross-sectional images were used for EMC depth analysis. A paired t-test showed significant differences in the length, width, and number of EMCs after debonding (p-value < 0.05), while the Wilcoxon non-parametric test indicated significant EMC depth changes (p-value < 0.05). No significant results were identified for the EMC number in ceramic brackets and EMC depth in metal brackets. Three-dimensional OCT imaging monitored existing EMCs at higher risk of progression and detected new EMCs following orthodontic bracket debonding. This study provides novel insights into EMC progression regarding the length, width, depth, and number after debonding.