Biomimetic remineralization of human enamel in the presence of polyamidoamine dendrimers in vitro.

Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers, known as artificial proteins, have unique and well-defined molecular size and structure. It has previously been used to mimic protein-crystal interaction during biomineralization. In this study, generation 4.5 (4.5G) PAMAM with carboxylic acid (PAMAM-COOH) was synthesized and utilized to remineralize the surface of etched enamel in vitro. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy we observed that 4.5G PAMAM-COOH can be absorbed on the etched enamel surface and that it can induce the formation of hydroxyapatite crystals with the same orientation as that of the enamel prisms on longitudinal and transversal enamel surfaces. The self-assembly behavior of PAMAM in the mineralization solution was also investigated and the result showed that 4.5G PAMAM can assemble to microribbon structure similar to the behavior of amelogenins. Therefore, we concluded that 4.5G PAMAM-COOH assemblies can act as the organic template on enamel surface and in mineralization solution to control the nucleation site and morphology of new-grown crystals to form the biomimetic structure of human enamel, which may open a new way for repairing damaged enamel.