Journal of Dental Research, Vol 74, 1891-1898, Copyright © 1995 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
HeNe-laser light scattering by human dental enamel
J. R. Zijp, J. J. ten Bosch and R. A. Groenhuis
Laboratory for Materia Technica, State University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Knowledge of the optical properties of tooth enamel and an understanding of
the origin of these properties are necessary for the development of new
optical methods for caries diagnosis and the measurement of tooth color. We
measured the scattering intensity functions for HeNe-laser light of 80- to
100- micrometers-thick human dental enamel slabs. The asymmetry factors
were calculated to be g = 0.68 at 633 nm. By measuring the collimated beam
attenuation, we determined the scattering coefficient to be s = 6.6mm(-1).
From Fraunhofer diffraction patterns, obtained from transmission of the
laser beam, we calculated the periodicity of the prismatic structure as 5.4
micrometers. We present a model containing scattering by crystals and by
prisms. It shows that the prisms are the most important scatterers but that
the crystals are responsible for the back-scattering.
