The wear behaviour of remineralised human dental enamel: An in vitro study

摘要

This paper investigates the wear behaviour of remineralised human dental enamel. Polished enamel flat surface samples were first demineralised in an acid solution and then remineralised in whole human saliva. They were opposed by enamel cusps in wear tests. Wear depth was measured by a profilometer and the wear surface and subsurface were examined by electron microscopy. The results show that the pores in the top surface layer collapse during wear and form a particle layer which is subsequently removed by ploughing/delamination. For enamel underneath, the dominating wear mechanism is delamination. Remineralised enamel is extremely vulnerable since the measured wear rate is 4 - 15 times that for sound enamel.