The burnishing effect of sodium (saline) chloride on root dentin: an in vitro study

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the burnishing effect of saline application on dentin specimens (NaCl 0.9%). Seventy-two dentin specimens (60 experimental and 12 controls) were equally divided into two groups. In Group A; sub-groups I, II, III, IV and V were respectively soaked with saline for 5 s, 10 s, 30 s, 1 min and 2 min. Group VI was soaked in citric acid for 3 min and served as control. Identical treatment was done in-group B with one exception, burnishing instead of soaking was applied to the root surface. Five, ten and thirty seconds burnishing with saline and all the different timings with the soaking technique did not remove the smear layer. This was in contrast to burnishing dentin surface for 1 and 2 min, which effectively removed the smear layer. It cannot be excluded that the smear layer removal is time dependent when the dentin is burnished with saline.