Teeth are organized into four major components: enamel, dentin, cementum and pulp. Enamel and dentin are primarily composed of the inorganic mineral hydroxyapatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2]. The elemental composition of teeth can provide important information about oral hygiene, diet and environmental factors. For this study, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), we present a comparison of the chemical elements found in teeth based on oral hygiene status (healthy, carious, and periodontal diseased) and an environmental factor (smoking). For this analysis, we removed each tooth sample's restorative material and pulp tissue. The dentin and enamel were not separated and were dissolved in nitric acid. The samples were centrifuged to remove any residual fibrous material. The teeth samples (healthy, carious, and periodontal diseased) were shown to have high concentrations of Mg and Na. In comparing healthy and carious teeth, carious teeth showed a decrease in concentrations of Si, Co, and B, and increased concentrations of Mg, Al, Sr, Zn, Cu, Sn, Ba, and Pb. Periodontal diseased teeth samples showed no concentrations of S, Cl, and Sc compared with healthy teeth. In addition, there was a significant lack of sulfur in periodontal diseased teeth compared to both healthy and carious teeth. Also, there was a decrease in concentration shown for K and Si, and the concentrations of Mg, Al, Sr, Ba, and Mn increased. Our results were compared with those in the literature and a discussion on the importance of chemical elements found in human teeth is given.

Elemental analysis of enamel and dentin in healthy, carious, and periodontal diseased permanent human teeth using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

249th National Meeting (2015)

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