Shrinkage of sound and demineralized human coronal dentine slabs.

In this article a method is presented for dentine shrinkage measurements. The relative shrinkage of sound dentine slabs is assessed using a Perthometer with respect to a steel reference. The relative shrinkage of lesions in dentine slabs can be estimated using combined Perthometer/microradiography measurements. The results show that the relative lesion shrinkage of lesions in thick slabs is quite different from the shrinkage of lesions in thin sections used for microradiography. The relative lesion shrinkage is, for periods up to 30 min, linear with the air drying period and increases strongly with the demineralization period. The previously published diol treatment is capable of reducing the relative lesion shrinkage in thick dentine slabs to negligible values.