Premium
SEM and microradiographic investigation of initial enamel caries
Author(s) -
ARENDS JOOP,
JONGEBLOED WIM,
ÖGAARD BJÖRN,
RÖLLA GUNNAR
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1987.tb01830.x
Subject(s) - enamel paint , porosity , materials science , crystallite , mineral , prism , dentistry , tooth enamel , human tooth , mineralogy , composite material , chemistry , optics , metallurgy , medicine , physics
– In this paper a combined microradiography and SEM study is presented on human enamel after a caries attack in vivo for a 4‐wk period. The initial enamel caries is induced under a specially designed orthodontic band; plaque accumulation takes place under a niche in the band. The microradiography and SEM were done on the same sections. A special manipulation and breaking technique of the thin sections makes it possible to observe with the SEM, demineralized enamel areas with a mineral content known from microradiography. The results show that with a mineral content of about 50 vol. %, the observable porosity is noticeable at the prism level (interprismatically) but barely noticeable at the crystallite level. The surface morphology of the demineralized enamel is at low magnifications not very different from sound enamel. At high magnifications, however, the surface porosity becomes visible. The results indicate that the mineral in vivo losses in enamel after an initial caries attack can be explained mainly by mineral losses from interprismatic areas and from the prism peripheries.