Effects of heating on the mechanical and chemical properties of human dentin.

Objectives: We had previously discovered that the flexural and tensile strengths of human dentin were 2-2.4 times greater after being heated to 140°C, and deduced that the generation of higher-density structures and therefore dehydration probably promoted the increased strength. Our test hypotheses were that intertubular dentin, which constitutes a major part of organic components, was selectively affected by heating, and such changes could happen without critical damages to the basic structure of dentin type I collagen.