Development of dental inspection method: nondestructive evaluation of a dentin-adhesive interface by acoustic emission.

Purpose The state of adhesion between root dentin and a resin composite core material was inspected using acoustic emission (AE).Methods A total of 14 human incisors and premolars were used to prepare "no-adhesive group" and "adhesive group" specimens. For "adhesive group" specimens, a bonding agent was applied to root canal dentin. The entire post space was subsequently filled with a resin composite for both specimen groups. The prepared specimens were fixed onto a jig on which an AE sensor was installed. A zirconia ball was used for the impact test, and a vibration wave generated by the collision was measured by the system using an AE sensor. The obtained data were subjected to time-frequency analysis using analysis software (LabVIEW), and the relationship between the amplitude indicating the loudness and the frequency indicating the sound component was analyzed.Results Zirconia-ball collision tests using AE revealed differences between the groups with respect to the waveform of vibration waves transmitted to the root dentin through the root dentin-resin interface. The time-frequency analysis of the obtained data confirmed that multiple peaks were observed for each specimen in the no-adhesive group, whereas a single characteristic vibration peak was observed for all specimens in the adhesive group.Conclusions The state of the adhesive interface was successfully evaluated by AE. This demonstration is expected to lead to the development of a device that can detect problems at the bonding interface between the prostheses and tooth substances.