Calculation of the currents generated in dental tissues by the application of an external electric field

The application of an external electric field has been shown to enhance the impregnation of resin monomers used in restorative dentistry. Further to experimental investigations that have related the migration of monomers to their electrical properties, additional insight into the conduction mechanism within the tooth can be gained by numerical modelling of the current conduction through the tooth. This paper presents the development of a three-dimensional realistic voxel model of a human tooth from a data set of digital images and the computation of the currents in the dental tissues by means of a low- frequency numerical code (scalar potential finite difference). Results for the electric potential and current density magnitude in various cross sections of the tooth model are presented for an applied 10V dc voltage between the electrodes.