Numerical and experimental study of excited light and auto-fluorescence diffusion in teeth

Excited light and corresponding intrinsic fluorescence diffusion inside teeth tissue are an essential problem for light-based carious lesion detection. Based on finite element numerical analysis of diffusion equation, the photon density distribution of both excited light and autofluorescence of 2D premolar teeth model is obtained. The dependence of excited light and autofluorescence density distribution inside the teeth model on the scattering coefficient of enamel (5–25 mm⁻¹) and dentine (100–140 mm⁻¹) is numerically simulated and analyzed. The fitted results reveal that fluorescence intensity decreases exponentially. Optical penetration depth and fluorescence relative depth declined with the increment of scattering coefficient of enamel. And the dentine had the opposite effect. Finally, the experiment of measurement of fluorescence intensity on the teeth surface is conducted and the result is compared with the numerical computation.