Study on dental diagnosis and treatment using millimeter waves

In order to diagnose dental caries noninvasively, the transmission coefficient of the dental caries is measured and compared to that of a sound tooth. It has been revealed that dental caries are significantly more lossy than a sound tooth in millimeter waves. This characteristic can be utilized as a new caries diagnosis method. This paper also presents microwave and millimeter-wave heating results for the lossy dental caries that can be used as a sterilization treatment. Temperature-distribution results from microwave power heating have revealed that dental caries are easily heated. Furthermore, the results of the calculated specific absorption rate distribution using the finite-difference time-domain method indicate the possibility of caries treatment by millimeter-wave heating. It is concluded that millimeter waves can be used for dental medical diagnosis and treatment.