NanoCT analysis of fine network connectivity in dentin cellular porosity.

The precise organization of cellular porosity in tooth dentin remains ill-understood due to the lack of experimental 3D data. This multiscale porosity remains challenging to image because of the high resolution required (better than 50 nm), the low absorption contrast and radiation sensitivity. In this proposal, we aim to use state of the art holotomography with highest possible resolution (25 nm pixel size) to image the cellular network in very thin sample stripes. This data will be site-matched with confocal fluorescence microscopy images and serve as gold standard for network analysis. Samples of different age groups from 16-42 years old healthy human patients will be analyzed to assess changes in cellular porosity as a function of age. This fundamental work is intended to provide the first brick to achieve an accurate modeling of fluid flow inside dentin which is known to mediate mechanosensing at the organ level.