Marsillac, Mirian de Waele Souchois deDelbem, Alberto Carlos Botazzo [UNESP]Vieira, Ricardo de Sousa2014-05-272014-05-272008-01-01Brazilian Journal of Oral Sciences, v. 7, n. 24, p. 1507-1511, 2008.1677-32171677-3225http://hdl.handle.net/11449/70280A cross-sectional microhardness (CSMH) test was carried out in human dental enamel exposed to a demineralizing solution in order to evaluate two different times of indentation in sound tissue and artificially induced caries. Twenty caries-free extracted human molars had one of their smooth surfaces sectioned and the enamel surface was isolated with nail polish except for an area of 6 mm2. These specimens were submitted to artificially induced enamel caries on a lactate buffer containing 0.1 ppm fluoride (F) during 28 days. All specimens were bisected to create groups A and B in which CSMH test was performed employing a Knoop indenter with a 25g load for 5 or 10 s, respectively. Student's paired t-test (p<0.05) was used to determine statistically significant differences between group A and B in 7 depths. There were no significant differences between any of the analyzed depths. Since the present experiment showed no significant difference when comparing indentations made with a 25 g load during either 5 or 10 s in different depths, this method can be used with either one of the time intervals tested without compromising a CSMH test on artificially demineralized human enamel.1507-1511engDental enamelHardness testsTooth demineralizationArtigoAcesso aberto2-s2.0-482491414622-s2.0-48249141462.pdf0000-0002-8159-4853