Windley Z, Weller R, Tremaine W H, Perkins J D
Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK.
Equine Vet J. 2009 May;41(5):433-40. doi: 10.2746/042516409x390214.
Dental disorders are of major clinical importance in equine practice; however, the knowledge of normal dental anatomy, especially that of the pulp remains incomplete. Computed tomography (CT) is being used increasingly in the diagnosis of dental disease, although the normal 2- (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) CT anatomy has not yet been fully described.
To describe the 2D and 3D CT appearance of the enamel, infundibulae and pulp of normal equine cheek teeth.
One-hundred-and-twenty-six cadaveric cheek teeth with eruption ages of 0.5-19 years were evaluated; CT scans of each tooth were performed after occlusal surface examination with a dental probe. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the enamel, infundibulae and pulp were created from the CT scans using greyscale thresholding and subsequent polynomial meshing. Each tooth was sectioned coronally or axially into serial slices using a band saw and the sections compared to the corresponding CT images.
The CT reconstructions enabled the systematic description of the pulpar anatomy of the mandibular and maxillary cheek teeth in 3D, which has not been described in detail previously. The number of interpulpar communications between pulp horns and the pulpar volume of each tooth was shown to decrease with increasing age. The interpulpar communications of the maxillary cheek teeth were found to be of greater complexity and variety in comparison to their mandibular counterparts. Mandibular and maxillary cheek teeth showed different, but consistent patterns in their pulpar and enamel morphology.
The detailed description of the normal 2D and 3D CT appearance of equine cheek teeth provides a reference basis for the diagnosis of dental disease with CT. Additionally, in depth knowledge of the pulpar anatomy of the equine cheek teeth is an essential prerequisite if endodontic therapy is to develop further in the future.
牙齿疾病在马科动物临床实践中具有重要意义；然而，对于正常牙齿解剖结构的了解，尤其是牙髓的解剖结构仍不完整。计算机断层扫描（CT）在牙齿疾病诊断中的应用日益广泛，尽管正常的二维（2D）和三维（3D）CT解剖结构尚未得到充分描述。
描述正常马科动物颊齿釉质、漏斗状窝和牙髓的二维和三维CT表现。
对126颗萌出年龄为0.5 - 19岁的尸体颊齿进行评估；在使用牙科探针检查咬合面后，对每颗牙齿进行CT扫描。使用灰度阈值分割和随后的多项式网格化技术，从CT扫描图像中重建釉质、漏斗状窝和牙髓的三维模型。使用带锯将每颗牙齿沿冠状面或轴向切成连续切片，并将切片与相应的CT图像进行比较。
CT重建能够对下颌和上颌颊齿的牙髓解剖结构进行三维系统描述，这在以前尚未详细描述过。结果显示，随着年龄的增长，牙髓角之间的牙髓间连通数量和每颗牙齿的牙髓体积均减少。与下颌颊齿相比，上颌颊齿的牙髓间连通更为复杂多样。下颌和上颌颊齿在牙髓和釉质形态上呈现出不同但一致的模式。
对马科动物颊齿正常二维和三维CT表现的详细描述为CT诊断牙齿疾病提供了参考依据。此外，如果未来牙髓治疗要进一步发展，深入了解马科动物颊齿的牙髓解剖结构是必不可少的前提条件。
