title: Relationship between nanohardness and mineral content of artificial carious enamel lesions.
abstract: The aim of this study was to compare cross-sectional nanohardness, measured using an ultra-microindentation system, with mineral content, from transversal microradiography, of artificial enamel caries lesions. Sections (85 +/- 10 microm) from 16 bovine enamel samples with artificial caries were prepared. The mineral content and cross-sectional nanohardness at known depths from the surface were compared. Both methods showed lesion profiles with a surface layer. The determination of nanohardness seems limited to lesions with a mineral content >45 vol%. There was a moderate linear relationship between mineral content and the square root of nanohardness (R2 = 0.81). It was concluded that the conversion of cross-sectional hardness into mineral content remains questionable and cannot be recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dentistry, Periodontology and Cariology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. wolfgang.buchalla@zzmk.uzh.ch
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Buchalla
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imfeld
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Attin
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Swain
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Schmidlin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology*; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D006244:Hardness; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008852:Microradiography; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008903:Minerals / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals