• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.459-473
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• 2000

Dental caries is the most common disease in the maxillofacial area. There are many factors contributing to its development, but complete understanding and prevention is not fully known. Since the structure of the coronal and root portion of the tooth is different, the remineralization and demineralization process is also known to be different. In this study, by using a partially saturated buffer solution, we created artificial enamel and dentin caries and evaluated mineral loss. A remineralization solution with four different degrees of saturation (degree of saturation ; group 1, 0.268, group 2, 0.309, group 3, 0.339, group 4, 0.390, PH 4.3, F-2ppm) was used on a demineralized specimen. The mineral precipitating quantity and depth was evaluated by using microradiography. Using an atomic force microscope (AFM), hydroxyapatite crystals of normal, demineralized, and remineralized enamel and dentin were evaluated. The results were as follows: 1. As the degree of saturation of the remineralizing solution increased, the mineral precipitation in the enamel was increased. In group 4, mineral precipitation was limited near the surface. 2. As the degree of saturation of the remineralizing solution increased, the mineral precipitation in the dentin was decreased and it occurred in a deeper portion. In group 4, however, mineral precipitation occurred on the surface and its quantity increased. 3. There was a statistically significant interaction between enamel and dentin mineral content changes on specimens treated with remineralization and demineralization solution (demineralization r=0.44, remineralization r=0.44, p<0.05). 4. Demineralized hydroxyapatite crystals showed central and peripheral dissolving and widening of intercrystal spaces under the AFM. 5. In dentin remineralization small crystal precipitation occurred between the large crystals. We conclude that by adjusting acidulated buffer solution's degree of saturation, we can control enamel and dentin remineralization. In addition, the AFM is highly useful in evaluating changes in remineralized and demineralized hydroxyapatite crystals.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.818-826
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• 1995

The present study was undertaken to investigate the crystal growth onto enamel mineral and synthetic hydroxyapatite seeds in media resembling the enamel fluid composition. Effects of fluoride at low concentrations on the precipitation were also examined in a benchtop crystal growth model adopting a miniaturized reaction column. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), as well as chemical analyses, were employed for characterization of both seed materials before and after experimentation. Remarkable findings were that (1) both biological and synthetic seeds at the same total surface areas yielded rather similar precipitation rates at all levels of fluoride concentration in solution and (2) the precipitation rate was accelerated in a manner depending on fluoride concentrations in media. FTIR differential analysis disclosed that the precipitating phase was characterized as poorly crystallized apatite, which incorporated subtle carbonate. Most of the fluoride ions in soution were readily incorporated into crystals. The overall results support the view that the seeded crystal growth model is of value to gain insight into the mechanism of enamel crystal growth under fluoride regimens.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to observe and compare the dynamic change of artificially demineralized enamel by remineralization solutions of different degrees of saturation at pH 4.3. In this study, 30 enamel specimens were demineralized artificially by lactic acid buffered solution. Each of 10 specimens was immersed in pH 4.3 remineralization solution of three different degrees of saturation (0.22, 0.30, 0.35) for 10 days. After demineralization and remineralization, images were taken by a polarizing microscope (${\times}100$). The density of lesion were determined from images taken after demineralization and remineralization. During remineralization process, mineral deposition and mineral loss occurred at the same time. After remineralization, total mineral amount and width of surface lesion increased in all groups. The higher degree of saturation was, the more mineral deposition occurred in surface lesion and the amount of mineral deposition was not much in subsurface lesion. Total demineralized depth increased in all groups.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.312-319
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of gargle and toothpaste containing low concentration with sodium fluoride on the remineralization through the surface microhardness and mineral content in enamel. After 4 weeks-application, the enamel surface was measured using microhardness tester and the calcium (Ca) and phosphorous (P) concentration of mineral content by electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) analysis. By combining fluoridated gargle with toothpaste, a remineralized enamel resulted in significantly significant differences among the four groups (p<0.05). The Ca change treated with 0.23% fluoridated toothpaste and 0.02% fluoridated gargle with 0.23% toothpaste demonstrated the highest among the other groups. In conclusion. the fluoridated gargle with toothpaste by low concentration showed a significantly greatest synergistic effect on remineralization of the enamel than the other groups.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.266-276
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to compare the remineralization effect of 38% silver diamine fluoride (SDF) and 5% sodium fluoride (NaF) varnish on artificially induced enamel caries. The present study standardized the physiochemical characteristics of the tooth structure using bovine teeth, realized the wash-off action of agents using a saliva, reproduced an environment similar to mouth through pH-cycling, and comparatively assessed the remineralization effect of 38% SDF and 5% NaF varnish in a non-destructive method using micro-CT. And the remineralized enamel surface structure was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDS). In both SDF and NaF varnish, mineral density (△Hounsfield unit value) and the volume of enamel restored to normal mineral density through remineralization gradually increased with time. And the SDF showed a much higher level of increase in mineral density at all depths and remineralized volume than NaF varnish. According to SEM analysis, the surface roughness decreased in the order of artificial saliva, NaF varnish and SDF. In addition, EDS analysis showed that silver ion was precipitated on the enamel surface in SDF group. In conclusion, SDF had a greater remineralization effect than NaF varnish on demineralized enamel.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.11-18
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• 2008

The purposes of this study were to examine the effect of 35% Carbamide Peroxide(CP) bleaching agent on the changes in physical and chemical characteristics of tooth. The effect of bleaching agent on enamel was analyzed using Hardness test, SEM and EDS. The microhardness between bleached groups after bleaching showed statistically significant difference according to the paired t-test. The bleached enamel surface showed apparent morphological changes compared to the enamel, which was stored in distilled water only. The difference of the total mineral contents for the distilled water and Carbamide Peroxide did not show statistical significance. These results demonstrated that bleaching using 35% Carbamide Peroxide were adversely affects application time of experimental group and may the safety of using these agents for a short time in dentist-monitored bleaching.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-64
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• 1986

The purpose of this study is to obtain the data of prestep in cavity preparation by observing changed conditions of laser irradiated dental hard tissues. The forty five extracted caries free human molars were divided into three groups and each group into five subgroups. A $CO_2$ laser irradiation was performed each subgroup of group I for one second with output power of 5 W, 10 Wand 20 W. On group II, laser irradiation was done ten times for 0.1 second duration using same power ratings as group I. On group III, laser irradiation was done 0.1 second, 0.2 second and 0.4 second with output power of 50 W. We investigated mineral contents and crater wall of obtained specimens, i.e., laser irradiated teeth, using computer controlled electron probe microanalyzer and scanning electron microscope. The following results were obtained: 1. Both calcium and phosphorus contents in laser irradiated enamel crater wall were increased, and magnesium content was decreased, but these trends were not statistically significant. 2. In laser irradiated dentin, change of mineral content was more significant. 3. In laser irradiated enamel and dentin, there were no significant differences on mineral content change due to irradiation condition and energy density. 4. In scanning electron microscopic study, enamel rods of the crater wall were fused and clefts were observed in parallel with the direction of enamel rod for all groups. 5. In laser irradiated dentin, irregular fusion and clefts were observed. In irradiated teeth with high power and short duration, the locally formed narrow crater wall was observed.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.187-194
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• 2014

Objectives: The effects of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and enamel matrix derivative (EMD) respectively with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) on hard tissue regeneration have been investigated in previous studies. This study aimed to compare the osteogenic effects of MTA/BMP-2 and MTA/EMD treatment in MC3T3-E1 cells. Materials and Methods: MC3T3-E1 cells were treated with MTA (ProRoot, Dentsply), BMP-2 (R&D Systems), EMD (Emdogain, Straumann) separately and MTA/BMP-2 or MTA/EMD combination. Mineralization was evaluated by staining the calcium deposits with alkaline phosphatase (ALP, Sigma-Aldrich) and Alizarin red (Sigma-Aldrich). The effects on the osteoblast differentiation were evaluated by the expressions of osteogenic markers, including ALP, bone sialoprotein (BSP), osteocalcin (OCN), osteopontin (OPN) and osteonectin (OSN), as determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis (RT-PCR, AccuPower PCR, Bioneer). Results: Mineralization increased in the BMP-2 and MTA/BMP-2 groups and increased to a lesser extent in the MTA/EMD group but appeared to decrease in the MTA-only group based on Alizarin red staining. ALP expression largely decreased in the EMD and MTA/EMD groups based on ALP staining. In the MTA/BMP-2 group, mRNA expression of OPN on day 3 and BSP and OCN on day 7 significantly increased. In the MTA/EMD group, OSN and OCN gene expression significantly increased on day 7, whereas ALP expression decreased on days 3 and 7 (p < 0.05). Conclusions: These results suggest the MTA/BMP-2 combination promoted more rapid differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells than did MTA/EMD during the early mineralization period.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.560-574
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• 1997

The present study was undertaken to investigate the crystal growth onto human enamel mineral and synthetic hydroxyapatite(HA) seeds in media resembling the enamel fluid composition. Effects of fluoride at high concentrations on the precipitation were also examined in a bench-top crystal growth model adopting a miniaturized reaction column. The Ca, P and F concentrations and pH values of the inlet and outlet solutions were determined. The recovered solid samples were weighed to assess the amount of minerals precipitated during the experimental period, and finally viewed under a scanning electron microscope. Remarkable findings were that 1) both biological and synthetic seeds with the same total surface areas yielded similar amounts of crystal growth, 2) the amount of crystal growth was accelerated in a manner depending on fluoride concentrations in the media, 3) SEM observations disclosed that without the addition of fluoride, precipitation of thin, plate-like OCP crystals became prominent, but by increasing the fluoride concentration(beyond 1ppm F), rod-like crystals having a pointed edge were most frequently observed, without any evidence for precipitation of the plate-like crystals. Furthermore, the dimension of rod-like crystals was increased in proportion to fluoride concentrations, 4) there was no difference in the morphological feature of precipitated mineral phase upon seeding between human enamel seed and synthetic HA seed. The overall results support the view that the seeded crystal growth model is of value to gain insight into the mechanism of enamel crystal growth under fluoride regimens.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.209-224
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to compare the amount of calcium fluoride deposited on the enamel and dentin surface and to obtain information on the morphological change and crystallographic details of mineral deposition after 12,000ppm APF application in vitro. The bovine enamel and dentin blocks were randomly assigned to eight groups according to artificial caries lesion formation and difference of fluoride application time. The fluoride concentration and morphological characteristics on the treated enamel and dentin surface were investigated by using fluoride quantitative analysis and SEM. The powdered enamel and dentin of the intact bovine incisors were prepared for the X-ray diffraction analysis. The following results were obtained. 1. The amounts of KOH-soluble fluoride on the carious enamel and dentin surface after 24h APF application were higher than after only 5min APF application(p<0.05), but in the case of the sound enamel and dentin surface were similar after 5min and 24h application (P>0.05). The fluoride content was highly increased in the carious dentin as compared with sound dentin after APF application(P<0.05). 2. The carious enamel surface after APF application, the demineralized enamel surface were recovered a more dense enamel surface and precipitation of crystal was observed a distintive surface layer of spherical globules of about 1 m diameter. In the case of the fluorided carious dentin surface, precipitation of calcium fluoride-like material was deposited both inside the dentinal tubules as well as in the intertubular regions. 3. The crystallographic structure of powdered enamel and dentin after 24h APF application had large crystallities of apatite and CaF2 diffraction peaks in the enamel as compared with dentin. The diffraction data collected from the 27.50-29.50(2) angular range of the powdered enamel, the (105) apatite, (225) apatite and (111) CaF2 peaks of the enamel crystallities were detected after 24h APF application.