Models of Teeth with realistic microstructure.

[EddieBrelsford1985]

Hi there. I'm not a Dentistry student, and this is my first time posting, so many apologies if it ends up in the wrong thread. I'm happy to direct it somewhere else if appropriate.

I am a teacher. I am involved in a project with some high school students, where we are investigating plaque build-up and tooth decay. We would like to run an experiment where we use the s.mutans bacteria to encourage plaque/decay on a tooth. To run it as scientifically as possible, it would be amazing if we could create some models of teeth, rather than using real teeth. That way, we wouldn't have to worry about pre-existing variation in the teeth we recieve.

However, we consider it very important to accurately model the microstructure of real teeth. As far as my understanding goes, real teeth are very porous in a small scale. I was wondering, are there any methods which exist for creating very realistic models of teeth, for testing on?

Importantly, the models aren't just for demonstration - they should act like real teeth when coated in the equivalent bacteria.

How is this investigated in dentistry research? Are models used, or real teeth? If it is real teeth, how do you account for the pre-existing variability?

 

[Busybee]

what about dentures?

You will never be able to fully replicate real mouth conditions 100%. There are too many variables. But dentures subjected to the same forces should be sufficient for educational requirements.

I'm sure dentistry research uses real teeth and a large number of subjects to reduce bias.