Insights into the morphological structure of remineralized dentin obtained by synchrotron radiation and micro-PIXE

This in vitro study has evaluated the effect of OrthoMTA as a commercially available dental bioactive cement on artificial demineralized dentine through indirect pulp capping (IPC), using complementary analysis techniques. The concentration of elements in de/remineralized regions and ions diffusion has been observed using synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) and micro-proton-induced X-ray emission (mu-PIXE) images, respectively. The model compounds (Ca-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(2)) and calcium phosphate were compared using X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) measurements on de/remineralized dentin regions. XANES analysis showed that the calcium environment at remineralized dentin has a structure with mixed features between HA and calcium phosphate, showing that effectively OrthoMTA application can recover the Ca species of the original tooth. Our results show that the use of OrthoMTA, in addition to being used in direct pulp capping, can also be used on the surface of artificial demineralized dentin for remineralization of affected dentin which extends its application in IPC procedures.

Automated summary

This in vitro study examined the effects of OrthoMTA, a commercially available dental bioactive cement, on demineralized dentine using complementary analysis techniques. The study found that OrthoMTA can effectively recover the calcium species of the original tooth, demonstrating its potential for use in both direct pulp capping and remineralization of affected dentin in IPC procedures.