ABSTRACT
Imaging tools are essential in orthodontics for diagnostic and follow-up during and after the treatment. Monitoring changes in dental and support tissues that receive and dissipate forces imprinted on them depends on instruments that access these tissues accurately and continuously without causing damage. The main purpose of this follow-up would be to maintain the health of the involved tissues, observing if their physiological limits have been respected. Additionally, another purpose is monitoring the evolution and repair of damages caused during the treatment, such as caries lesions underlying orthodontic appliances.
This chapter deals with optical coherence tomography applied to orthodontics, looking into bonding and debonding aspects of the orthodontic treatment, as well as the treatment evaluation. Other uses of OCT in orthodontics include evaluation of caries or white spot lesions adjacent to the brackets, microimplants and periodontal impacts.
