Periodontal disease is one of the most pervasive dental diseases in older adults. It involves the loss of connectivetissue attachment with subsequent destruction of tooth-supporting bone, leading to loss of teeth. Periodontal pocketdepth is currently measured with an invasive manual probe, but adapting diagnostic ultrasound to this purpose can avoidthe pain and inaccuracy inherent in manual probing. In this paper, 3D simulations of ultrasonic periodontal probe measurementsare described, using a parallel finite integration technique which is adaptable enough to create realistic anatomicalgeometries. The outputs of the simulation include 3D pressure values distributed throughout the periodontal anatomy,2D vertical cross sections of the acoustic pressure waves, and the pressure across the face of the transducer which is usedto synthesize the ultrasonic echo. Experimental comparison with a simple phantom is also shown. Lastly, the energy valuesfor different simulations are calculated from the 3D pressure values to describe the amount of energy reaching differentzones, especially the junctional epithelium. The simulations as well as the energy studies show that only a small portionof the ultrasonic energy is reaching the junctional epithelium, and so sophisticated mathematical techniques are requiredto ultrasonically measure pocket depth.
展开▼
