Research Article

The Effectiveness of Remineralizing Agents on Dentinal Permeability

Figure 7

SEM images (3500x) and EDX spectra of treated dentine specimens after 3 minutes of citric acid challenge. (a) Deposits of GC Tooth Mousse Plus were eroded away leading to an increased exposure of dentinal tubules and an abrupt decrease in the content of Ca and P in the EDX analysis (b) Clinpro White Varnish resulted in a much smoother and uniform morphology exhibited with few unoccupied dentinal tubules. The crystal-like structures were rarely evident. EDX analysis revealed the peaks of Ca and P which were still maintained. (c) Duraphat resulted in the removal of tubular plugs and exposure of the orifices. EDX analysis revealed low levels of Ca and P elements. (d) Dentine surface treated with Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief dentifrice appeared to be washed out and revealed the intertubular dentine with few tubules partially plugged. There were not many changes to the high Ca and P peaks in EDX spectra. The element K was evident during this stage. (e) Biodentine resulted in an increase in the number of vacant dentinal tubules, whereas EDX showed that Ca remains unchanged even after being challenged to citric acid with the presence of Si.
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