Peels as an alternative to ground sections - An in vitro microscopic study

The routine approach to delve into the organization of mineralized and nonmineralized structures of teeth is by studying whole tooth or slices of it by making thin section which requires laborious grinding or employing specialized equipment and also leads to specimen wastage. Peels hitherto utilized for fossil studies hold promise in overcoming the aforesaid shortcomings. Although the acetate peel technique has been modified for the study of tooth structure, the field remains largely unexplored.

The current study was taken up to explore the usefulness of cellulose acetate peels in reproducing microscopic structures of teeth as seen in routine ground sections and further if they could supplement or replace the same.

Extracted human teeth were embedded in plaster blocks in longitudinal and transverse orientation, ground and polished with silicon carbide paper. Following etching, washing and drying, the polished surface was wet with acetone and precut cellulose acetate film was placed over it and allowed to dry. As the acetate polymer dissolved in acetone and subsequently re-polymerized after setting into the micro reliefs produced by tooth etching, it registered the microscopic tooth details on its surface. The peels were mounted and secured on a glass slide and subjected to routine light and phase contrast microscopy for observing captured details of the tooth structure.

Acetate peels successfully reproduced most of the microscopic tooth details which were better than those observed in ground tooth sections. Hence, this technique could be considered as a quick, durable and inexpensive alternative or supplement to routine thin ground sections of dental hard tissues.