Abstract
In order to study adhesion/decalcification mechanisms of acid interactions with human hard tissues such as bones and teeth, the chemical interaction of five carboxylic acids (acetic, citric, lactic, maleic, and oxalic) and two inorganic acids (hydrochloric and nitric) with enamel and two synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAp) powders with, respectively, a high and a low crystallinity were analyzed using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), and spectrophotometry (S). X‐ray diffraction revealed that the crystallinity of the highly crystallized HAp was considerably higher than that of enamel while the crystallinity of the poorly crystallized HAp was similar to that of dentin and bone. XPS of acid‐treated enamel demonstrated for all carboxylic acids ionic bonding to calcium of HAp. AAS and S showed for both HAps that all carboxylic and inorganic acids except oxalic acid extracted Ca significantly more than P, leading to a Ca/P ratio close to that of synthetic HAp (2.16 w/w). Oxalic acid extracted hardly any Ca, but substantially more P, leading to a significantly smaller Ca/P ratio than that of HAp. AAS showed that the calcium salt of oxalic acid hardly could be dissolved, whereas the calcium salts of all the other acids were very soluble in their respective acid solution. These results confirm the adhesion/decalcification concept (AD‐concept) previously advanced. Depending on the dissolution rate of the respective calcium salts, acids either adhere to or decalcify apatitic substrates. It is concluded that the AD‐concept that originally dictated the interaction of carboxylic acids with human hard tissues can be extended to inorganic acids, such as hydrochloric and nitric acid. Furthermore, HAp crystallinity was found not to affect the adhesion/decalcification behavior of acids when interacting with apatitic substrates, so that the AD‐concept can be applied to all human hard tissues with varying HAp crystallinity. © 2001 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 59: 56–62, 2002