Alterations in the mechanical properties of the extracted human teeth to be used as biological restorations on storing them in different storage media: an in vitro study.

BACKGROUND: Total or partial loss of tooth structure occured due to caries or trauma. The decayed or fractured tooth is restored with appropriate restorative materials. A range of restorative materials are available in the market today, but each of them has one or the other drawbacks, viz. color mismatch, variable wear resistance, and strength. Therefore, there has always been a quest to use a restorative material which has properties as close to natural tooth as possible. Extracted human teeth have been tried as restorative materials with good success rate, but their storage has been a problem due to change in physical properties. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the changes in the mechanical properties of the extracted human teeth to be used as biological restoration upon storing them in different storage media and to compare their effectiveness. MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY: Five hundred and twenty extracted human teeth (samples) included in the study were equally distributed and randomly stored in different storage media (saline, artificial saliva, ORS, coconut water, and eye solution), and their mechanical properties were checked at different time intervals (7, 14, and 30 days) using universal testing machine and Vickers hardness test. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: None of the storage media used in the study significantly altered mechanical properties of the stored extracted human teeth except the hardness which was substantially reduced after storing for 30 days. Of the 4 media tested, eye solution was found to be the best, while artificial saliva was found to be least effective as storage media. It was also concluded that storage time of the extracted teeth to be used as biological restorations should not exceed more than 3-4 weeks as beyond this time, mechanical properties namely hardness get altered significantly.