Objectives: Dental materials that can form apatite offer the potential to not only prevent demineralisation but enhance remineralisation of the enamel. The objective of this study was to investigate the ability of a novel BAG-resin adhesive to form apatite in 3 immersion media.
Methods: A novel fluoride containing BAG-resin adhesive described previously, with 80% by weight filler load, was used to fabricate 90 disks. Each disk was immersed in 10ml of either tris buffer (TB), or artificial saliva at pH=7 (AS7) or pH=4 (AS4). At ten time points (from 6h to 6 months), three disks were taken from each of the solutions and investigated by ATR-FTIR, XRD and SEM.
Results: The BAG-resin formed apatite on the disk surface, which increased with time, especially in AS4 and AS7. The apatite crystals formed in AS7 were highly oreintated and the oreintation increased with time.
Significance: This novel BAG-resin adhesive differs from the currently used adhesives by promting apatite formation, particularly under acidic conditions. Thus, applied in the clinical situation to bond orthodontic brackets, it may discourage the frequent occurrence of white spot lesion formation around the brackets.
Keywords: Apatite; Bioactive glass; Fluoride; Orthodontic adhesives; White spot lesions.
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