OCT in prosthodontics

Abstract

Prosthodontics is a specialty of dentistry that aims to recover lost dental elements, through fixed or removable prosthetic elements, installed on osseointegrated implants and/or remaining teeth or roots. The interface between prosthetic elements and tissues of the oral cavity (hard tissues, such as bone and teeth, or soft tissues, such as gingiva and mucous membranes), as well as between different prosthetic surfaces (implants and abutments, crowns, cores, resins and cements) has always been a critical factor for the success of the treatment, with long-term maintenance of function and aesthetics. The analysis of these interfaces is routinely performed through clinical examination and with the use of radiographs, but the accuracy of this analysis is relative. The use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) has shown to be suitable for the analysis of these interfaces and also the integrity of different types of prosthesis, due to its micrometric resolution, and for being a real-time and non-invasive technique, preserving the integrity of the evaluated structures, being able to clinically assess them over time.