Research and Development Manager DentDash Medical Technology, United States
Introduction: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of surface modification on staining of tooth enamel through changing the hydrophobicity of the teeth. Teeth can be extrinsically stained through many different drinks such as coffee and tea. If teeth were made to be more hydrophobic these liquids can have a lesser effect on teeth. Compounds that can bond to teeth and have high hydrophobicity due to long carbon chains, would be best for creating hydrophobic teeth.
Materials and
Methods: All chemicals are purchased from Aladdin Scientific Corp. Four primers containing 5 wt% of organic hydrophobic phosphoric or phosphonic acid molecules were prepared (10-Phosphonooxydecyl methacrylate, 10-MDP; Octylphosphonic acid, 8-OPA; Dodecylphosphonic acid, 12-DDPA; Tetradecylphosphonic acid, 14-TDPA). Enamel teeth were treated with or without the primers (control) in in 37℃ oven for 30 minutes (n=8). The hydrophobicity of the teeth was tested through measuring water contact angles and the highest contact angle group was picked for staining test with 0.1% brilliant blue solution in 37℃ ovens for 4 hrs (n=8). The color changes (ΔE) were calculated by measuring the L, a, b values of teeth samples with a spectrophotometer before and after immersion in the stain.
Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: The hydrophobicity and color change results are shown in Table 1 and 2, respectively. Primer 14-TDPA had a significantly greater contact angle of 110.6 degrees compared to other primers and control (p ≤ 0.05). Primer 14-TDPA had a lower average ΔE of 8.2 when compared to 19.1 for control. The primer effectively made the surface of enamel hydrophobic and was less prone to being stained (p ≤ 0.05). Primer 14-TDPA effectively made the surface of enamel hydrophobic and was less prone to being stained. This study shows the effectiveness of tooth surface modification for decreasing staining. Future studies can test the effectiveness of 14-TDPA on different potential staining materials such as tea or coffee.
Acknowledgements (Optional): I thank my family for the resources and guidance they gave me to help complete this project.
