Patent ID: 8556625

Claim:
A dental imaging system, comprising: an interrogation optical scanner configured to scan an optical interrogation beam across at least a portion of at least one tooth by varying a position at which the optical interrogation beam strikes a surface of the at least one tooth, wherein the optical interrogation beam is substantially transmissable into the at least one tooth so as to produce a dentally modulated optical flux exiting the interior of the at least one tooth from an exit surface area of the at least one tooth that differs from an entrance surface area at which the optical interrogation beam enters the tooth; an optical detection system that includes a photodetector situated to receive diffuse light associated with the dentally modulated optical flux from the exit surface area, wherein the photodetector is configured to remain substantially fixedly optically coupled to the exit surface area during the scan of the optical interrogation beam, the optical detection system configured to produce a direct detection signal associated with the diffuse light received from the at least one tooth by diffuse direct detection; and a signal processor coupled to receive the direct detection signal and produce picture information associated with the at least one tooth based on the direct detection signal and position information derived from the position of the optical interrogation beam.