If I want to do a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopic) study on Dental implant surface, do i need to cut the implant to make a block, a thin strip or the Whole implant can be sent to lab for SEM?
If I need to make it in small cube/block or strip, how do I do it? Please guide.
Specimen preparation depends on your task. Are you interested in surface? In profile? In thickness of coating (if any)?
You may need to cut implant, embed and polish it, or may be just to look on a surface of a whole thing. Up to you.
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) methods is most useful to characterize the surface of a specimen. As a metaphor: Imagine you are exploring the ground from air balloon - the image you see is related to the surface of the ground, including all topographic elements in a top view.
Now back to your question. If you are looking for surface cauterization of your dental implant, SEM would be a great method. You should consider other preferences following Vladimir Dusevich remarks.
On the other hand, if you would like to view the inside of your implant you may want to go with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Keep in mind that this methods require ultra-thin sectioning of your specimen (often in aplastic resin block) and in some hard specimen you may consider decalcification of mineralized structure.
I absolutely agree with Vladimir. It depends on information you need to get from analysis.
If you are interested in surface of your Dental implant, you can simply place whole implant into SEM and observe it. If you need information from the volume of your Dental implant or if you need to analyze thickness of some surface layers for example, you would need to choose much complicated sample preparation technique containing cutting. Alternatively you can use FIB-SEM like alternative to cutting process but all depends on information you need to get.
Thank you all. I do need to study the changes in surface characteristics after certain treatment for decomtamination. I asked that question because the labs near my city all are asking to make the implant in small cube or slices so they can check the surface. Even i was wondering why they cannot see the whole implant for surface, whey they need in to cut in peices. May be the labs here are not that advanced or dont know to take risks and try something new (for them).
Thanks anyways.
It seems that this lab focus on section preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). You may ask if they do Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) as well or simply find different lab that familiar with SEM of wholemount samples.
For some older and cheapest table top SEMs there were limitations in size, for all others implant is small enough to fit into an SEM.
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