On the use of dental microwear texture analysis to determine aetiology and assess wear of dental tissues for clinical evaluation

Abstract

Here, we present and synthesise some recent collaborative efforts in our laboratories to establish protocols for using dental microwear texture analysis, originally developed to reconstruct diets of fossil mammals and to aid in the clinical assessment of dental patients today. The idea is to propose a method where polyvinylsiloxane impressions, as used in many dental practices, can be combined with surface texture analysis for a rapid, non-invasive, and inexpensive approach to detect and monitor the progression of tooth wear at fine scales over short durations and help determine causal agents of dental tissue loss. We employed both in vitro experimentation and in vivo analysis for abrasion and erosion of enamel and dentin surfaces. Three-dimensional point clouds of impression surfaces were generated using a scanning confocal profiler and analysed using both standard ISO and scale-sensitive fractal analysis approaches. The authors’ results indicate that texture attributes distinguish sound, abraded, and eroded surfaces. Furthermore, microwear textures can parse erosive tooth wear by the causal pH level and duration of exposure. These and other related studies indicate that dental microwear texture analysis holds potential for determining the aetiology of pathological tooth wear and for the clinical assessment and monitoring of dental patients at risk for excessive dental tissue loss at fine scales over short intervals.