Polydopamine-induced tooth remineralization.

Inspired by mussel bioadhesion in nature, dopamine is extensively used for biomaterial surface modification. In this study, we coated dopamine on demineralized enamel and dentin surfaces to evaluate the effect of polydopamine coating on dental remineralization. Dental slices containing enamel and dentin were first etched with 37% phosphoric acid for 2 min, followed by immersion in a 2 mg/mL freshly prepared solution of dopamine (10 mM Tris buffer, pH 8.5) for approximately 24 h at room temperature in the dark to obtain polydopamine coating. Then, the dental slices with and without polydopamine coating were immersed in the supersaturated solution of calcium and phosphate at 37 °C for 2 and 7 days. The supersaturated solution of calcium and phosphate was refreshed each day. The precipitates were characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR, microhardness, and nanoscratch analyses. No significant difference was observed in the remineralization of enamel whether it was coated with polydopamine or not. However, a significant difference was found in dentin remineralization between dentin with and without polydopamine coating. Polydopamine coating remarkably promoted demineralized dentin remineralization, and all dentin tubules were occluded by densely packed hydroxyapatite crystals. Thus, coating polydopamine on dental tissue surface may be a simple universal technique to induce enamel and dentin remineralization simultaneously.