Morphology, Composition, and Wetting of Dentinal Cavity Walls

¹ Dental School and Department of Submicroscopic Morphology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands

The morphology of dentinal cavity walls, wetting by poly (methyl methacrylate), and resistance to tensile forces was studied with a scanning electron microscope, before and after etching or fixation, or both, with glutaraldehyde. Results indicated that the surface layer of dentinal cavity walls after etching is of an aqueous-organic nature, that glutaraldehyde fixation improves the mechanical properties of the surface layer of the cavity wall, and that wetting by poly (methyl methacrylate) is effective.