• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.151-161
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• 2007

Dental caries is the most common disease in the oral cavity However, the mechanism and treatment of dental caries is not completely understood since many complex factors are involved. Especially the effect of pH on remineralization of early stage of dental caries is still controversial In this study, dental caries in dentin was induced by using lactic acidulated buffering solutions and the loss or inorganic substance was measured. Also decalcified specimens were remineralized by three groups of solution with different pH (group of pH 4.3, 5.0, and 5.5). Then, the amount and the area of inorganic substance precipitation was quantitatively analyzed with microradiograph. Also a qualitative comparison of the normal phase the demineralized phase, and the remineralized phase of hydroxyapatite crystal was made under SEM. The results were as follows, 1. In microradiograghic analysis, as the pH increased, the amount of remineralization in decalcified dentin tended to increase significantly As the pH decreaced, deeper decalcification, however, occurred along with remineralization. The group of pH 5.5 had a tendency to be remineralized without demineralization (p<0.05). 2. In SEM view, the remineralization in dentine caries occurred from the hydroxyapatite crystal surface surrounding the mesh of organic matrix, and eventually filled up the demineralized area. 3. 5 days after remineralization, hydroxyapatite crystal grew bigger with deposition of inorganic substance in pH 4.3 and 5.0 group, and the crystal in the remineralized area appeared to return to normal. After 10 days, the crystals in group of pH 4.3 and 5.0, which grew bigger after 5 days of remineralization, turned back to their normal size, but in group of pH 5.5, some crystals were found to double their size. In according to the results of this experiment, the decalcifying and remineralizing process of dentine is neither simple nor independent, but a dynamic process in which decalcification and remineralization occur simultaneously. The remineralization process occurred from the hydroxyapatite crystal surface.