Comparative analysis of dental enamel polyvinylsiloxane impression and polyurethane casting methods for SEM research.
Dental casting is a very common procedure for making high-quality replicas of paleo-anthropological remains. Replicas are frequently used, instead of original remains, to study both fossil and extant Primate teeth in morphological and metrical analyses. Several commercial products can be used in molds. This study analyzed SEM image resolution and enamel surface feature definition of tooth molds at various magnification levels and obtained, with both Coltène and 3M low-viscosity body polyvinylsiloxane impression, materials and polyurethane casts. Results, through comparison with the original teeth, show that both the negative molds and the positive casts are highly reliable in replicating enamel surfaces. However, positive cast quality is optimal for SEM observation only till the fourth consecutive replica from the original mold, especially at high SEM magnification levels.
Secc. Antropologia, Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat de Barcelona. Av. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Jordi
J
Galbany
Ferran
F
Estebaranz
Laura M
LM
Martínez
Alejandro
A
Romero
Joaquín
J
De Juan
Daniel
D
Turbón
Alejandro
A
Pérez-Pérez
D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003760:Dental Impression Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000737:chemistry*; D016628:Replica Techniques; D012833:Siloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D014070:Tooth / Q000648:ultrastructure*
D003760:Dental Impression Materials; D011140:Polyurethanes; D011145:Polyvinyls; D012833:Siloxanes; C034183:vinyl polysiloxane