Comparison of artificial white spots by microradiography and polarized light microscopy.

This work compared lesions produced by three artificial caries systems with natural white spot lesions using both polarized light microscopy and microradiography. The three systems employed were the acidified gelatin gel, diphosphonate surface dissolution inhibitor, and a partially saturated buffer system. When we compared the natural white spot lesions with the artificial caries-like lesions, we found that the acidified gel system reproduced the classical histological zones most frequently. All systems showed a radiopaque surface layer overlying a radiolucent body of the lesion. This radiopaque layer could not be equated with the negatively birefringent surface zone seen in polarized light.