Preparation of pulverized human tooth enamel for dentistry fractionation

Abstract

Density fractionation of enamel has been studied for many years. It has been determined that the density of enamel varies in different locations and layers. Different densities or variations in the distribution of organic or mineral matters in enamel indicates pervious routes through the enamel. Hypothetically, low density fractions that contain more organic material belong to prism sheaths. One of the difficulties in this procedure is pulverizing the small samples from a single tooth in sufficiently small particles to permit isolation of relatively pure structural entities. The subject of the present work is the investigation of this problem. A special device was designed to permit pulverization of enamel. With this method, prevention of time consumptions, heat generation, and loss of material were considered. Tooth enamel was pulverized by means of different burs. Three diamond and two carbide burs were utilized. Results showed that the size of enamel particles treated by means of diamond burs was smaller than that of those treated with carbide burs. A super finish diamond bur (769-13F) created the smallest particles. About 93% of the particles treated by means of this bur were less than the width of the prisms in the surface enamel (5-6 microns) For reduction of particle size, a special ball mill made of zirconium was utilized and the effect of this device was investigated. Very fine pulverized enamel was obtained and the particle size was reduced to less than 3 microns.