ON THE PHYSICAL-CHEMISTRY OF TOOTH ENAMEL AND THE CARIES PROCESS

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 8  (2) , 117-126
Abstract
A model is presented for the pathway of mineral reactions of tooth enamel during caries [in vertebrates]. It is based on a mathematical simulation of the caries process and knowledge about the variable solubility behavior of calcium phosphates. According to this model, the surface of the crystals in the intact superficial layer of enamel will transform into a relatively pure fluorohydroxyapatite; in the lesion, a mineral with a brushite- or monetite-like composition will be formed, while at the bottom of the lesion an increasing amount of the original carbonatoapatite will be found. The model also explains why demineralization takes place at some distance under the enamel surface. The intact superficial layer of enamel over a lesion apparently becomes thicker with increasing pH of the plaque fluid and with its degree of saturation with respect to fluor- and hydroxyapatite. The fact that high-carbonate teeth are more susceptible to caries than low-carbonate teeth, is evidently consistent with the present model.

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