A comparative histologic study of the pulp-dentinal interface in undemineralized and demineralized tooth sections

Dentin Morphology of Root Canal Surface: A Quantitative Evaluation Based on a Scanning Electronic Microscopy Study

Dentin is a vital, hydrated composite tissue with structural components and properties that vary in the different topographic portions of the teeth. These variations have a significant implication for biomechanical teeth properties and for the adhesive systems utilized in conservative dentistry. The aim of this study is to analyse the root canal dentin going from coronal to apical zone to find the ratio between the intertubular dentin area and the surface occupied by dentin tubules varies. Observations were conducted on 30 healthy premolar teeth extracted for orthodontic reasons in patients aged between 10 and 14. A SEM analysis of the data obtained in different canal portions showed that, in the coronal zone, dentinal tubules had a greater diameter (4.32 μm) than the middle zone (3.74 μm) and the apical zone (1.73 μm). The average number of dentinal tubules (in an area of 1 mm²) was similar in coronal zone (46,798 ± 10,644) and apical zone (45,192 ± 10,888), while in the middle zone they were lower in number (30,940 ± 7,651). However, intertubular dentin area was bigger going from apical to coronal portion. The differences between the analysed areas must be considered for the choice of the adhesive system.

Automated image analysis applied to the odontoblast-predentine region in undemineralized sections of human permanent third molars

A computerized histomorphometric analysis was made by Karnovsky-fixed, hydroxethylmethacrylate embedded and toluidine blue/pyronin-stained sections to determine: (1) the two-dimensional size of the coronal odontoblasts given by their cytoplasm:nucleus ratio; (2) the ratio between the number of coronal odontoblasts and dentinal tubules; and (3) the relation between odontoblast size and adjacent predentine. All conditions were measured in relation to three well-defined sectioning profiles of the dentinal tubules. The sections were randomly taken from 10 unerupted and erupted third-molar crowns. Sixty-three photomicrographs (x100), equally distributed among the three sectioning profiles, were scanned in a high-resolution scanner to produce images for the analysis. After initial user interaction for the description of training classes on one image, an automatic segmentation of the images with respect to odontoblast cell nuclei, cytoplasm and background was computed by statistical discriminant analysis. In longitudinal profiles of the dentinal tubules the cytoplasm:nucleus ratio in erupted teeth was 3.1 +/- 0.54, and the mean of the odontoblast cell:dentinal tubule ration was 1.19 +/- 0.20. Analysis of cytoplasm:nucleus ratio and the adjacent predentine in relation to the chosen sectioning profiles disclosed that there was less variation in the predentine measurements in the longitudinal sections. Thus, in future two-dimensional studies of the odontoblast-predentine region only longitudinal sectioning profiles should be analysed. The use of advanced image processing on undemineralized tooth sections provides a rational foundation for further work on the reactions of the odontoblasts to external injuries including dental caries.