Shallow fluorine depth profiles of cementum in periodontal disease--a pilot study.
A nuclear resonant reaction depth profiling technique was used to analyze elemental fluorine distribution in the first 20 microns of human dental cementum. A pilot sample of six periodontally-involved teeth indicated greater levels of fluorine in exposed cementum (0.9 leads to 2.4%) compared to cementum apical to the zone of epithelial attachment (0.4 leads to 1.1%). Furthermore, the exposed cementum appeared to have fluorine levels within the surface 5 microns comparable to the hypermineralized layer previously reported by x-ray diffraction and microprobe techniques. The nuclear resonant reaction is a non-destructive technique which yields useful information of surface elemental distribution as a function of depth, and may be regarded as a potential means of analyzing changes in the inorganic constitution of cementum during various physico-chemical pre-treatments.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003739:Dental Cementum / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005461:Fluorine / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010865:Pilot Projects
D005461:Fluorine