THE CREATING ARTIFICIAL EARLY ENAMEL CARIES LESIONS IN PIT AND FISSURE

Abstract

The aim of this in-vitro experimental study was to investigate the artificial enamel lesion in pit and fissure area. A total of 10 extracted healthy premolars due to orthodontic treatment were randomly allocated into 5 groups. The samples were immersed in a demineralized solution (pH 4.4) at 37°C for 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours. After demineralization, each tooth was sectioned bucco-lingual through the center of the fissure with an average thickness of 170 micrometers. The lesion depth was measured under polarized light microscope (Nikon Eclipse80i, Kanagawa, Japan) using 5x objective magnification. The result shows an average lesion depth of 28.87, 72.40, 72.53, 94.15 and 147.20 micrometers, respectively. In conclusion, artificial caries lesion depth increased in a time-dependent manner with longer exposure to the demineralizing solution. However, all lesions remained confined to the enamel layer. This finding supports the reliability of stimulating early enamel caries with a lesion depth not exceeding 100 micrometers and corresponding to clinical characteristics classified as ICDAS 2, using demineralizing immersion periods of up to 96 hours.