Abstract
Objectives: To investigate the potential mineralising effects of calcium silicate-based den-tine replacement material (BiodentineTM) in comparison with glass-ionomer cement (GIC) (Fuji IXTM) on different human dentine substrates using a multimodal non-invasive optical assessment.Methods: Cements were applied on artificially demineralised or naturally carious dentine and stored for 4 weeks in phosphate-rich media +/-tetracycline used for mineralisation labelling. Interfacial dentine was examined from the same sample and location before and after aging using two-photon fluorescence microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) and second harmonic generation (SHG) imaging. Additionally, Raman spectroscopy was used to detect changes in the mineral content of dentine. Results: Significant changes in the fluorescence intensity and lifetime were detected in partially demineralised dentine and caries-affected dentine underneath both tested ce-ments, after storage (p < 0.001). This was associated with a significant increase in the mineral content as indicated by the increased intensity of the phosphate Raman peak lo-cated at 959 cm-1 (p < 0.0001). Caries-infected dentine showed significant fluorescence changes under BiodentineTM after storage (p < 0.001), but not under GIC (p = 0.44). Tetracycline binding induced a reduction in the fluorescence lifetime with comparable increase in the fluorescence intensity in both cements' groups within the affected dentine (p < 0.001). SignificanceTwo-photon fluorescence microscopy can be used efficiently for non-destructive in-vitro dentine caries characterisation providing a technique for studying the same dentine -ce-ment interface over time and detect changes. BiodentineTM demonstrated comparable re -mineralising potential to GIC, in addition to inducing remineralisation of caries-infected dentine. This may suggest using BiodentineTM as part of minimally invasive operative dentistry (MID) in caries management.Crown Copyright (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Academy of Dental Materials. All rights reserved.