Dental enamel: qualitative evaluation of the surface after application of aluminum oxide (microetching) using the scanning electron microscope

Abstract

Dentistry nowadays can count on a wide range of resources to treat patients. With the development of adhesive materials and several newly introduced restorative techniques, the dental structure can be subjected to different sorts of surface treatment. The use of aluminum oxide flow at high speed to remove dental structure was described by Black in 1945, however, the literature regarding the use of aluminum oxide jet is still scarce, as far as the alterations occurring in the dental structure are concerned. At the present, with the development of new abrasive air equipment, microabrasion has been added to several adhesive restorative techniques, in the preparation of the dental surface and of inner surfaces of indirect restorations, which will receive the application of adhesive materials. The aim of this study was to assess the alterations produced by abrasive air applied on the dental enamel by means of electronic microscopy, taking into consideration micromorphological surface alterations. The importance of this study is based on the fact that alternative surface treatments both chemical and mechanical could be introduced in surface priming, including dental enamel priming.