The Butterfly Effect: An Investigation of Hardness and Density of Sectioned Roots

Background: The butterfly effect is an optical phenomenon seen in cross sections of roots. The teeth having butterflyeffect had a higher density of dentinal tubules buccolingually than mesiodistally. Teeth with the butterfly effect maybe weaker and thus more prone to vertical root fracture in the buccolingual direction.Aims and Objectives: To investigate the hardness of dentin and density of the dentinal tubules in cross sections ofroots exhibiting the butterfly effect.Materials and Methods: 30 extracted single rooted teeth were selected and then divided into 3 groups of ten each.All the teeth were then cut into ten 1 mm thick cross sections and viewed under a light microscope. Teeth scored 1 or2 according to presence of butterfly effect. The 2 teeth with lowest value were considered as control and 2 teeth fromeach group with highest value selected for further examination.Two adjacent cross sections were choose from themiddle of the roots from each toothfor SEM to check density of dentinal tubules followed by Vickers test.Statistical Analysis: It was done using student t test.Results: The butterfly effect was seen at all levels in sectioned teeth. The dentine hardness observed more in mesiodistal than bucco-lingual direction and density found more in bucco-lingual direction.Conclusion: Hardness and densities of dentinal tubules in sectioned roots were variable in bothdirections.