IADR Abstract Archives
A Preliminary Exploratory Study on the Effect of Seawater on Dental Enamel Hardness
Objectives: Ample evidence within the literature on the positive effect of various ions on enhancing the properties of dental enamel. Seawater, a natural resource rich in ions, could possess beneficial properties to dental enamel. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of seawater on hardness, roughness, and crystal composition of dental enamel.
Methods: Following ethical approval, extracted sound human teeth were collected and randomly divided into three groups; seawater (test), chlorinated water (positive-control), and distilled water (negative-control). Resin-embedded enamel cross-sections (n=36) were assessed for Vickers hardness, surface roughness and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, before and after 60-days of exposure to the treatment solutions. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata Statistical Software (Release-17). As the data was not normally distributed, Kruskal–Wallis test and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test were used to assess differences among and within each group, respectively. The significance level was set at p<0.05.
Results: The median hardness of teeth immersed in seawater exhibited a notable increase from 274.26 to 326.15HV units, showing a statistical significant difference (p=0.001) of 57.84HV units (IQR: 41.83 to 86.07), with a significance observed when compared to chlorinated water and distilled water (p=0.0001). The median roughness of teeth immersed in seawater exhibited minimal changes from 9.54 to 9.27µm with a statistical insignificant difference (p=0.909) of merely 0.57µm (IQR: -3.18 to 1.57). This difference was not statistically significant when compared with chlorinated and distilled water (p=0.693). XRD revealed hydroxyapatite as the main crystalline phase of dental enamel. An increase in the intensity of hydroxyapatite crystalline phases of the teeth immersed in seawater indicates the precipitation of calcium and phosphate ions on the tooth surface.
Conclusions: Within the study limitations, the exposure of seawater with dental enamel might improve tooth structure, as demonstrated by increase in hardness, ion precipitation exchange, and changes in crystalline composition.
Methods: Following ethical approval, extracted sound human teeth were collected and randomly divided into three groups; seawater (test), chlorinated water (positive-control), and distilled water (negative-control). Resin-embedded enamel cross-sections (n=36) were assessed for Vickers hardness, surface roughness and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, before and after 60-days of exposure to the treatment solutions. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata Statistical Software (Release-17). As the data was not normally distributed, Kruskal–Wallis test and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test were used to assess differences among and within each group, respectively. The significance level was set at p<0.05.
Results: The median hardness of teeth immersed in seawater exhibited a notable increase from 274.26 to 326.15HV units, showing a statistical significant difference (p=0.001) of 57.84HV units (IQR: 41.83 to 86.07), with a significance observed when compared to chlorinated water and distilled water (p=0.0001). The median roughness of teeth immersed in seawater exhibited minimal changes from 9.54 to 9.27µm with a statistical insignificant difference (p=0.909) of merely 0.57µm (IQR: -3.18 to 1.57). This difference was not statistically significant when compared with chlorinated and distilled water (p=0.693). XRD revealed hydroxyapatite as the main crystalline phase of dental enamel. An increase in the intensity of hydroxyapatite crystalline phases of the teeth immersed in seawater indicates the precipitation of calcium and phosphate ions on the tooth surface.
Conclusions: Within the study limitations, the exposure of seawater with dental enamel might improve tooth structure, as demonstrated by increase in hardness, ion precipitation exchange, and changes in crystalline composition.