Looking into Teeth with Ultrasound

Abstract

Ultrasound is readily conducted across a boundary when the specific acoustic impedances of the two media are about equal. The specific acoustic impedance of dental enamel is about that of aluminum. A longitudinal sonic pulse, less than 250 nanoseconds in duration, conducted to the tooth through an aluminum rod, has positively detected the enamel-dentin junction as well as the dentin-pulp interface.