Endotoxin determination in the subadjacent carious dentin in primary teeth

PLEASE NOTE: This work is protected by copyright. Downloading is restricted to the BU community: please click Download and log in with a valid BU account to access. If you are the author of this work and would like to make it publicly available, please contact open-help@bu.edu.Thesis (M.Sc.D.)--Boston University School of Graduate Dentistry, 1978. (Oral Biology)Bibliography: p. 48-57.Endotoxins are lipopolysaccharides contained in the cell wall of all gram-negative bacteria. Upon replication or lysis these bacteria endotoxin is liberated into the surrounding medium and is capable of producing a variety of biological responses. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether endotoxin from oral gram-negative bacteria is capable of penetrating dentin under the carious lesion in deciduous teeth. Specimens were obtained from seven patients. Roentgenographic examination indicated interproximal dentinal carious lesions in primary molars, these teeth did not present with any pathology of the surrounding tissues and their roots were not more than half resorbed. Lipopolysaccharides were extracted by the Westphal method (phenol-water). The endotoxin content was determined by the Limulus lysate technique which is capable of detecting as little as .001 mg of endotoxin. Of the samples included in the study, 13 out of 14 were found to contain no detectable endotoxin. Findings indicated that no significant amount of endotoxin was found in dentin under a carious lesion