Abstract

FERREIRA, Meire Coelho; MARSILLAC, Mirian de Waele Souchois de  and  VIEIRA, Ricardo de Sousa. Salivary contamination and reconditioning of human dental enamel. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2010, vol.58, n.3, pp. 295-299. ISSN 1981-8637.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the morphology of deciduous and permanent human enamel using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to analyze it after acid etching with 37% phosphoric acid, human saliva contamination and reconditioning for 10 seconds (s). METHODS: Two groups, deciduous and permanent, consisting of five human incisive teeth each, originated thirteen vestibular surfaces where 10 were etched with phosphoric acid (15s and 30s), two were only contaminated with saliva (5s and 30s) and one remained unetched. Eight of the ten etched specimens were contaminated with human saliva (5s and 30s) and only four were reconditioned. RESULTS: The patterns observed with 15s and 30s of acid etching did not produce visible changes on the deciduous or permanent human dental enamel but thirty seconds of acid etching produced a deeper demineralization on the enamel of permanent teeth. Salivary contamination for 5s and 30s obstructed the micropores produced by acid etching and rinsing with water for 30s was not enough to remove it. CONCLUSION: According to the images obtained by a scanning electron microscope, reconditioning of the enamel for 10s can produce adequate micropores in samples etched for 15s and contaminated with saliva for 5s in both test groups.

Keywords : acid etching dental; tooth deciduous; dental enamel; saliva.