Desarrollo y aplicaciones de biocerámicas

Restoration of Tooth Enamel Using a Flexible Hydroxyapatite Sheet Coated with Tricalcium Phosphate

Abstract

Ei Yamamoto, Nobuhiro Kato, Arata Isai, Hiroaki Nishikawa, Masanobu Kusunoki, Kazushi Yoshikawa and Shigeki Hontsu

Restoration and protection of tooth enamel are of great importance in operative and conservative dentistry. Using a Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) method, we have successfully created a freestanding flexible double-layered sheet composed of a Hydroxyapatite (HAp) layer (4 m in thickness) coated with a Tricalcium Phosphate (TCP) layer (500 nm). In order to apply the newly developed HAp/TCP sheet to the restoration and protection of tooth enamel, the adhesive characteristics of the HAp/TCP sheet on the enamel were evaluated mechanically and microstructurally in the present study. The adhesive strength (5.7 MPa) between the HAp/TCP sheet and enamel was markedly higher than that (1.9 MPa) between the mono-layered HAp sheet and enamel. The electron microscopic observation revealed that HAp/TCP sheet was widely fused with the enamel. Therefore, the double-layered HAp/TCP sheet can be used as a material to promote the repair of tooth eruption and to maintain healthy dentine.