{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T23:01:45Z","timestamp":1789686105070,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Association of Basic Medical Sciences of FBIH","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782691200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomol Biomed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Advancing carious lesions may induce structural and degenerative changes within the dental pulp that are not directly captured by conventional diagnostic methods. This study aimed to evaluate the association between caries severity, quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2\u00a0mapping, and histological pulp degeneration (PD). Fifty-two permanent premolars scheduled for orthodontic extraction were clinically assessed using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and classified as ICDAS 0\u20133. Before extraction, participants underwent 3-tesla (3T) MRI using a multi-echo spin-echo T2\u00a0mapping protocol. Mean T2\u00a0relaxation times and T2\u00a0variability, defined as the standard deviation of T2\u00a0values, were calculated within manually delineated coronal pulp regions of interest (ROIs). After extraction, pulp tissues were processed for hematoxylin and eosin staining, and PD was graded on a 0\u20133 scale and quantified morphometrically as the proportion of affected pulp area. Histological PD was identified in 12 of 52 teeth and was observed only in carious teeth with ICDAS 2\u20133 lesions. Teeth with PD showed lower mean T2\u00a0relaxation times than teeth without PD (114.236 \u00b1 28.020 ms vs. 131.740 \u00b1 23.562 ms; p\u00a0= 0.049) and lower T2\u00a0variability (33.226 \u00b1 7.080 ms vs. 41.463 \u00b1 8.366 ms; p\u00a0= 0.006). PD grade correlated positively with ICDAS score (\u03c1 = 0.481; p\u00a0= 0.00035) and negatively with mean T2\u00a0relaxation time (\u03c1 = \u22120.367; p\u00a0= 0.00896) and T2\u00a0variability (\u03c1 = \u22120.381; p\u00a0= 0.00708). Greater morphometric PD area was also associated with lower mean T2\u00a0relaxation time and T2\u00a0variability. These findings suggest that caries severity is associated with histological pulp degeneration and reduced MRI-derived T2\u00a0parameters, supporting quantitative T2\u00a0mapping as a noninvasive approach for investigating caries-related pulpal tissue changes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.17305\/bb.2026.14331","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T15:09:31Z","timestamp":1782745771000},"page":"2381-2392","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Quantitative &lt;i&gt;T&lt;\/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;\/sub&gt;\u00a0mapping MRI links dental caries severity to histological pulp degeneration in human teeth"],"prefix":"10.17305","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0945-475X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Tenyi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Milutinovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ksenija","family":"Cankar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"6922","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]]},"container-title":["Biomolecules and Biomedicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/bjbms.org\/ojs\/index.php\/bjbms\/article\/download\/14331\/4237","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/bjbms.org\/ojs\/index.php\/bjbms\/article\/download\/14331\/4237","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T22:02:13Z","timestamp":1789682533000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bjbms.org\/ojs\/index.php\/bjbms\/article\/view\/14331"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17305\/bb.2026.14331","relation":{},"ISSN":["2831-090X","2831-0896"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2831-090X","type":"electronic"},{"value":"2831-0896","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]]}}}