Dental diagnosis for inlay restoration using an intraoral optical coherence tomography system: A case report.

PATIENTS: The patient was a 32-year-old man who underwent amalgam restoration of the mandibular right second molar. An amalgam restoration fracture was diagnosed by intraoral optical coherence tomography (OCT), and pulp exposure was examined during cavity preparation. Subsequently, a definitive ceramic restoration was fabricated, and the marginal fit in the oral cavity was evaluated using the OCT system. DISCUSSION: The existing OCT system cannot acquire images inside the oral cavity because of the large probe size. However, the proposed intraoral OCT system can access the prostheses in the mandibular right second molar. Therefore, dental diagnosis for restoration treatment with dental prosthesis fracture, marginal gap, and pulp exposure after tooth preparation is possible using the proposed intraoral OCT system. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the intraoral OCT system improved dental diagnosis by allowing the dentist to confirm quantitative values through cross-sectional images, rather than that by determining a treatment plan after visual dental diagnosis.