Abstract. We report on the demonstration of two occlusion protocols for exposed dentinal tubules with the aid of gold nanoparticles: first, the inner tubular walls are pre-adsorbed by sub-monolayer gold nanoparticles, followed by a silver staining process to achieve tubular occlusion. Second, highly concentrated gold nanoparticles were brushed into the exposed ends of dentinal tubules, followed by laser irradiation which promoted sintering of gold nanoparticle aggregates via photothermal conversion.

Print publication: Issue 47 (28 November 2007)
Received 16 June 2007, in final form 2 September 2007
Published 17 October 2007