Journal of Dental Research, Vol 62, 806-810, Copyright © 1983 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Shallow fluorine depth profiles of cementum in periodontal disease--a pilot study
A. W. Crawford, W. J. Sampson and H. J. de Bruin
A nuclear resonant reaction depth profiling technique was used to analyze
elemental fluorine distribution in the first 20 microns of human dental
cementum. A pilot sample of six periodontally-involved teeth indicated
greater levels of fluorine in exposed cementum (0.9 leads to 2.4%) compared
to cementum apical to the zone of epithelial attachment (0.4 leads to
1.1%). Furthermore, the exposed cementum appeared to have fluorine levels
within the surface 5 microns comparable to the hypermineralized layer
previously reported by x-ray diffraction and microprobe techniques. The
nuclear resonant reaction is a non-destructive technique which yields
useful information of surface elemental distribution as a function of
depth, and may be regarded as a potential means of analyzing changes in the
inorganic constitution of cementum during various physico-chemical
pre-treatments.
