Citation: HUANG LI (2007-05-30). Effects of Heat & Organic Matrix on Enamel Demineralization & Diffusion. ScholarBank@NUS Repository.
Abstract: A quantitative comparison of diffusion coefficient (DC), lesion depth (LD) and birefringence (BF) between tooth enamel with or without organic matrix (OM)-extraction and heating treatment was studied. A novel approach of Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) coupled with Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) was employed to quantify DC in tooth enamel. The BF changes of tooth enamel and LD were evaluated under Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM). The result shows that the LD, DC and birefringence in OM-extracted group were higher than those of control groups substantiating that the organic matrix has an inhibitory effect on ion diffusion and demineralization in enamel. The heating temperature of 200a?? to 300a?? was considered beneficial to the prevention of incipient caries. It is concluded that the reduced demineralization induced by heat was attributed to the combined effect of both permeability reduction and compositional changes in enamel.