Morphological changes of the tooth tissue by means of argon ion beam etching

• Published in: Adhesive Dentistry Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 141 - 149
• Main Authors: SUGIZAKI, Jumpei, YAMADA, Toshimoto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan Society for Adhesive Dentistry 2002
• Subjects: argon ion beam etching; dentin; enamel
• ISSN: 0913-1655; 2185-9566
• DOI: 10.11297/adhesdent1983.20.141

We used the argon ion beam etching method to recognize the resin impregnated hybrid layer. But we had not been able to find out the target of the argon ion and the mechanism of this etching process. The purpose of this study was to observe the morphological changes of the tooth tissue after argon ion beam etching. Freshly extracted human intact teeth and the teeth with moderate dentin caries were used. These teeth were cut longitudinally, embedded in an epoxy resin, and then polished. After the FE-SEM observation of the polished surfaces, the surfaces were subjected to the argon ion beam etching for 30, 90, and 180 seconds. Then, the morphological changes of the intact enamel, intact dentin, and caries-affected dentin after argon ion beam etching were carefully observed under the FESEM. It was proved that by using this technique, enamel surface and relatively harder intratubular dentin were not damaged compared to intertubular dentin. This tendency was more pronounced for the caries-affected dentin. It was concluded that the argon ion beam could etch not only the hydroxyapatite but also the collagen fibers of the dentin to some extent depends on the side of the tooth substrate.