Fracture in hydrated and dehydrated dentine

Abstract

Fractures occurring within dentine present significant and ongoing clinical problems. This results in significant reduction in the strength of the tooth which requires timely and expensive reconstruction or extraction. The partial dehydration of dentine as may occur with removal of fluid from the pulp cavity has historically been considered to be one of the major factors in the higher reported incidence of fracture in endodontically treated teeth. Significant differences were observed between the fracture characterising parameters of hydrated and dehydrated dentine. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.