Breaking a tooth, whether due to a punch in the face, a fall, or biting into a frozen chocolate bar (yes, that happened to me… it was horrifying to realize there was neither toffee nor almonds in the chocolate, but I digress), is a stressful event. In fact, tooth loss is a common theme in many people’s anxiety dreams. So, if you do break a tooth and happen to find the wayward piece, what should you do with it? More specifically, how should you store it? Well, to determine the best way to store a broken tooth to ensure a strong bond when it is glued back in, these scientists started by collecting a bunch of teeth: “In this experimental laboratory study, 60 human mandibular incisors, which were extracted because of periodontal diseases, without any defects such as fractures, decalcification, or caries were collected.” These teeth were then broken, stored in various liquids or in air, and then glued back together. The scientists then determined how much force it took to re-break the teeth. It turns out that the old wives’ tale is right–you should pop that bad boy in a glass of milk!
“AIM: The aim of this study was to examine various storage environments for storing fragments before being bonded to the remaining teeth and also estimate the required force to fracture the restored teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty mandibular incisor teeth were fractured on the incisal one-third and were divided into five groups of 12 each to be stored in normal saline, water, milk, saliva and dry environments for 24 hours. All the fractured parts in each group were bonded to their relevant apical parts by an etch and rinse bonding system and a flowable composite resin. The fracture resistance was measured by a universal testing machine, and the results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey statistical tests. RESULTS: The results revealed that the difference among the five groups was statistically significant (P<0.001). Tukey tests showed that the force required for fracturing fragments kept in the milk and saliva environments were significantly higher than those for the normal saline, water and dry environments (P CONCLUSIONS:It was concluded that keeping the fractured parts in milk and saliva environments can increase the required force for fracturing teeth more than the other environments.”
