Original scientific paper
Effect of Salivary Pellicle on the Occurrence of Enamel Erosion in vitro
Tonči Staničić
; School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Marijan Tuđa
; »Pliva« - Kontrola kvalitete, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
namel surface with and without pellicle was performed using enamel prisms o f three human impacted molars. Ten specimens were prepared for each tooth. Five specimens of each tooth were immersed into nonfractionated paraffin-vax-stimulated saliva obtained from a donor for 2 h, to allow the pellicle to precipitate over the enamel surface. Two specimens o f each tooth, one with and another without the pellicle, served as controls, whereas other specimens were placed in an acidified beverage (Cola, pH 2.57) for 15, 30, 60 and 120 min. Then, the specimens were prepared for electron microscopy (SEM) and analyzed. Control specimens showed the pellicle to be inhomo geneous, »patchy« and failing to cover the entire enamel surface. Comparison of the findings on the enamel with and without pellicle generally confirmed the erosion alterations to be significantly less pronounced in the specimens with pellicle, regardless o f the time they were left in acidified beverage. The enamel specimens without pellicle showed demineralizing changes of the prism centers as early as after 30 min o f exposure to phosphoric acid, and changes of the prism periphery and interprism enamel after 60 and 120 min, respectively. In the specimens with pellicle on the surface, demineralizing alterations were only observed after the longest period of acid exposure. Minor dissolutions were observed in prism centers only, with mild demineralization of the prism periphery in some of them. The results obtained supported the hypothesis that salivary pellicle could protect the enamel from the erosive action of acidified beverages.
Keywords
human enamel; pellicle; acidified beverage; SEM
Hrčak ID:
99925
URI
Publication date:
15.9.1993.
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