DENTAL PROBE

A dental probe for determining the vitality of a tooth, comprising (A) a light emitter and (B) a light receiver, wherein the light emitter emits light from an emitter surface adapted to be positioned on a hard dental surface of a tooth, wherein the light receiver collects light incident on a receiver surface adapted to be positioned on a hard dental surface of the tooth so that the optical path of the light emitted from the light emitter passes at least through a portion of the pulp chamber of the tooth, characterized in that the light receiver comprises (a) a light shielding spacer member adjacent to the optical path for establishing and maintaining a distance of at least 50 μm between the gum line and the optical path at the receiver surface, and in that the light emitter comprises (c) a light shielding spacer member adjacent to the optical path for establishing and maintaining a distance between the gum line and the optical path at the emitter surface, wherein the light shielding spacer member establishes and maintains a distance of at least 50 μm between the gum line and the optical path at the emitter surface, and in that an apical-coronal diameter of the light emitter surface and the light receiver surface is at most 1200 μm in the direction normal to the optical path.