M. ESSER*, J . Tinschert and R. MARX (Lehr- und Forschungsbereich für zahnärztliche Werkstoffkunde, Klinik für zahnärztliche Prothetik der Medizinischen Fakultät der RWTH Aachen)
To verify new dentin adhesives and the durability of their bond strength to dentin or enamel it is indispensable at least for the first stages of experiment to partly replace human by bovine dentin. However, one must make sure that under the aspects to be investigated human and bovine tooth have similar properties. For human and bovine enamel this examinations have extensively been done in the past, but for the analogous question of comparability of human and bovine dentin there is lack of information in literature.
We have examinated the morphology and structure of bovine dentin and its tubuli in detail with scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, we have investigated the mechanical density, the thermal conductivity, the electrical resistance and the fracture toughness of bovine vs. human dentin.
We come to the conclusion that human and bovine dentin are very nearly neighbored and both have comparable properties with respect to in vitro experiments of dentin adhesive systems.