The Micrograph Image of Early Experimental Dental Caries in Permanent Teeth in Hanoi Medical University

Abstract

Objectives: This reseach aimed to describe micrograph images of experimental carious lesions at early stage. Method: Experimental study. 60 permanent extracted premolars (patient aged 18-25) were cleaned and removed remaining soft tissue. Each tooth was painted with acid-resistant coating leaving an enamel window of approximately 1 × 1 mm2 in buccal surface. After 96 hours being soaked in demineralization solution to create artificial carious lesion, the coating was removed, and all teeth would be evaluated using ICDAS criteria and made tooth specimens to be observed under a scanning electronic microscope (SEM). Results: After being soaked in demineralization solution, the carious lesion gained was at stage ICDAS 1 with 66.7% ; and 33.3% at stage 2. Mean depth and area of the lesions was 107.6 µm and 1.14 µm2, respectively. The difference in depth and area of lesions between group ICDAS 1 và ICDAS 2 was significantly statistical with p=0.0001. Micrograph images showed that after being soaked in demineralization solution, enamel surface became rough, enamel rods lost minerals in the body more than in the sheath, cross-sectional images showed widened gaps between the rods due to demineralization. There was a difference in demineralization degree between group ICDAS 1 and 2. Conclusion: Image of cariouslesions gained after being soaked in demineralization solution showed that naturally carious and artificially carious-like lesions shared many similar characteristics due to theevaluation based on ICDAS criteria for detecting early carious lesions and scanning electronic microscope. DOI: 10.14693/jdi.v23i1.973

Keywords

• Demineralization, Remineralization, tooth enamel, fluoride, pH cycling, SEM