Inhibition of serum albumin flux across exposed dentine following conditioning with GLUMA primer, glutaraldehyde or potassium oxalates.

A variety of medicaments used on dentine in various treatment procedures may cause a reduction in dentine permeability. By observing the flow of endogenous serum albumin across exposed dentine, agents known to promote dentine bonding of restorative resins or retard dentine sensitivity were assessed regarding their capacity to arrest dentinal fluid flow. Experiments were conducted in young adult macaque monkeys employing Class V cavity preparations in incisors and canines. A diffusion-in-gel-enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (DIG-ELISA) was used to quantitate serum albumin in effluents from these cavities at various time periods following either no treatment or topical application with GLUMA primer, glutaraldehyde or potassium oxalates. While in untreated cavities serum albumin continued to flow even after a period of 1 week, a substantial reduction or complete cessation of serum albumin flux was seen following topical application of the agents tested, suggesting a durable effect on dentinal fluid flow. No difference between agents was observed. Further cutting of the cavity bottom a few tenths of a millimetre resulted in renewed flow of serum albumin. Data suggest that the solutions tested are capable of reducing dentinal fluid flow onto exposed dentine surfaces.