Abstract:
In the present dissertation the correlation was examined between occlusal wear of dental hard tissues and the formation of irritation dentine (secondary-, tertiary-, protectionary dentine). For the investigations mandibular molars (M1, M2, M3) of the permanent teeth with different abrasion for a sectional view study were selected from the skeletal material of the osteologic collection of the institute for anthropology and human genetics of the Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Germany. Places of discovery, age of death, era and sex of the mandibulars were not taken into consideration. At the molars the abrasion degree was measured against the abrasion scheme by MILES (1963). The irritation dentine layer thickness should be examined by means of x-rays. Mouth x-rays were made according to the principle of the parallel technique (PASLER, 1995). Irritation dentine was determined indirectly, because it cannot be distinguished from initial (primary) dentine in the x-ray. Measurements of the pulp cavum and the dentine layer were carried out. These measurements show that the pulp cavum decreases with the increasing degree of abrasion, which is the reason for the build up of irritation dentine. The irritation dentine layer thickness of the individual molars was calculated indirectly by a datum line. Apart from this indirect determination of the irritation dentine layer thickness, irritation dentine has also been examined macroscopically directly on the occlusal surface. There irritation dentine can be distinguished by its darker color compared to the initial dentine. Irritation dentine has been localized on the occlusal surface and its extension measured. First of all irritation dentine occurs in the area of the pulp horns, finally in the case of stronger occlusal wear it is to be found in the area of the pulp cavum. In the examined cases, if the tooth crown is worn away up to the tooth neck, it has been found to cause a rupture in the root canals. The growth of irritation dentine in the pulp cavum seems to be able to balance the occlusal dentine wear so that the molars stay intact and operative. Apparently, as soon as the crown level is reduced down to the dental neck, the formation of the irritation dentine can not cope with the high abrasion anymore. The rupture into the root canals ends the vitality and the effectiveness of the tooth. In the investigation a high correlation between the degree of abrasion and the determined irritation dentine layer has been found. A correlation between the irritation dentine layer thickness, examined in the x-ray, and the irritation dentine, measured on the occlusal surface, could not be found.