Elemental imaging of dental hard tissues by secondary ion mass spectrometry.

High resolution imaging by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) has been employed in a chemical-microstructural pilot study of different classes of hard tissues from human and rat. The special scanning ion microprobe instrumentation permitted the recording of element-resolved images with a lateral resolution of about 50 nm. Sharp distribution micrographs were obtained for Ca+, F- and CN-, and in selected specimens for Na+, K+, Mg+, O-, Cl-, C- and PO-. Several trends in the elemental kinetics of mineralization were comprehensively illustrated and new aspects were indicated. The paper points out the broad scope of interest, and the potentialities of unique applications, in SIMS imaging of biomineralized tissues, the conditions for efficient employment of the recently developed technique are briefly discussed and demonstrated.