Bovine Teeth as Substitutes for Human Teeth in Dental Research: Ultrastructural and Radiographic Analysis

Obtaining an alternative for human teeth in research remains challenging. The current study aimed to determine the validity of utilizing bovine teeth as a substitute for human teeth.

Sound human maxillary premolars and bovine permanent lower central incisors were obtained. The human and bovine teeth were divided into groups (n = 35) for scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis alongside energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and optical radiographic density.

The data was statistically analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance along with a paired sample t-test, comparing the means of each two groups. The results were expressed as means ± standard deviations, and statistical significance was determined at an alpha level of 0.05.

SEM analysis of human and bovine samples in different hard tissues showed minor changes, mainly the human enamel had a smoother surface with distinct prism profiles, whereas the bovine dentin had larger and more widely separated dentinal tubules. EDX analysis revealed that the compositions of Ca and P, along with their Ca/P ratios in terms of enamel, dentin, and cementum, were comparable. For radiographic density, the findings revealed minor differences between human and bovine samples. No statistically significant differences among the studied groups were detected.

This study revealed minor variations in structure, chemical composition, and radiographic density between human and bovine hard tissues, but without statistical significance, supporting the utilization of bovine teeth as a substitute for that of humans in dental research.