Photoacoustic Digital Tooth and Image Reconstruction of Tooth Root

Accurate tooth detection and imaging are crucial for diagnosing dental diseases and planning orthodontic procedures. Reconstruction activities on the tooth root surface can lead to alveolar bone atrophy and hinder tooth movement during therapy. The current golden-standard imaging modality for teeth is oral and maxillofacial cone beam CT (CBCT), which is, however, radioactive. To address this issue, we propose the use of photoacoustic (PA) imaging, an emerging radiation-free modality, for tooth root imaging. We verify its feasibility through simulation experiments based on a digital tooth phantom and modify the image reconstruction algorithms to address artifacts caused by the heterogeneous acoustic velocity.