A Preliminary Study of Posteruptive Maturation of Teeth in situ

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Abstract
A method for in vivo measurements of the permeability of surface enamel was applied to the central maxillary incisor of two groups of children ranging in age from 7 to 9 and 13 to 14 years, respectively. The method involved exposure of a standard area of the surface enamel to 2 M KI, removal of the iodide present on the surface, and determination of back diffusion of the imbibed iodide. The mean ( ± SE) of recovered iodide, expressed in mole equivalents × 1010, was 34.0 (5.9) for the younger group (n = 27) and 4.1 (1.3) for the older group (n = 32). The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01). It is concluded that posteruptive maturation of enamel involves a decrease in permeability to iodide. The drinking water was fluoridated 4 years before the study was undertaken and possible effects of the waterborne fluoride on the findings are discussed.