Cutting teeth in the SEM

An SEM was used to observe and record dental tissues as they were being cut. Sound human deciduous and permanent teeth were stored in 70% ethanol until required, then soaked in water, superficially dried and screwed to the SEM specimen stage through small drill holes made when they were wet. Many specimens were frozen and studied at cryogenic temperatures so that they would not become dehydrated. Edges used to cut the teeth included steel and tungsten carbide fashioned to resemble clinical cutting instruments, and diamond ultramicrotome knives and burs. The cutting tools were held either in a micromanipulator or a rigid tool post clamped to the specimen stage. The finest control was obtained by moving the specimen with the usual stage controls. SEM was conducted at 3 or 5 kV using TV speed scanning on the uncoated samples. All experiments were video-taped. 3-D control was difficult with a mono image and a real-time stereo system was therefore developed. Continuous, flowing sections of enamel could be obtained using diamond knives to cut the prism-free, surface zone tangentially. Thin sections of dentine, cement and bone curled up as they were cut, thus demonstrating permanent deformation. Subsurface enamel always fractured as it was cut, either locally as the tissue passed over the knife edge or tore out beneath the plane of the knife or by larger fragments cleaving off at larger distances ahead of the knife. Appearances were characteristic of prism orientation with respect to cutting direction. No anisotropy of cutting behaviour was found with dentine or bone: These tissues only fractured when thicker sections were taken. The SEM methods employed here can be usefully applied in the study of other materials.