Nathan Meka^1,, Khalid Siraj¹

It has been studied previously that there exist surface potential in a whole tooth. This work is carried out to investigate the cause of human teeth decay in the oral cavity by electrochemical method. The enamel wafer preferentially allows the passage of monovalent cations and it restricts the passage of monovalent anions so that developing an electric potential. The developed surface potentials were measured between enamel crown’s buccal side and tooth root. Surface potentials examined in all the teeth in the presence of KCl. Then the electric potentials developed this way provide an electric driving force for possible degradation and caries formation of enamel by electric means. This difference is the result of the difference in ionic strength of blood and saliva and types of food intake. It is found that potential increased with increasing KCl concentration and after acid corroded, however the addition of fluoride caused the electric current drop significantly. These results suggest that drop in current indicates a significant increase in the electric resistance of the enamel as a result of fluoride and it is also found that potentials can be affected by the surrounding electrolytes.

enamel, enamel wafer, tooth caries, KCl, fluoride ion