[Determination of the surface topography of etched dental surfaces]

Klinger and Gabriel recently described a method for the determination of surface topography in which the surface is probed by a mechano-electrical movable handle attached to defined line-scanner pattern. The evaluation of the "surface topogram" thus obtained is elucidated with the aid of a surface topogram of a straight fissure. A contour map is drawn with the help of this surface topogram for an area of about 300 micron X 500 micron of a cauterized surface in the enamel of a transverse cut. This shows that broad cauterization structures occur not only in the enamel near the dentine but also in the area of outer enamel which is caused by differential dehiscence or splitting of enamel prisms with different orientation towards the cut surface.