Cryogenic Grinding
Definition
The technique of freezing a tooth sample to cryogenic temperatures (liquid nitrogen, approximately -196°C) before mechanical pulverisation. Freezing prevents frictional heat generation during grinding, which would degrade DNA, and the resulting fine powder maximises extraction buffer contact.
Related terms
- Cementum
- A thin, bone-like mineralised tissue that covers the external surface of the tooth root. Deposited incrementally throughout life in alternating translucent and...
- Dentinal Tubules
- Microscopic channels running radially through dentine from the pulp cavity to the outer surface. They house odontoblast cell processes that can carry...
- Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
- DNA located in mitochondria rather than the cell nucleus. Present in hundreds to thousands of copies per cell, making it recoverable from...
- Pulp Extraction
- Accessing the soft tissue of the root canal (pulp) directly by cutting the tooth at the cementoenamel junction and removing the contents...
- Short Tandem Repeat (STR) Profiling
- The amplification and typing of microsatellite loci where short DNA sequences are repeated a variable number of times. When applied to canine...
Explained in
- Dental DNA, Tooth Sampling and Molecular IdentificationThe technique of freezing a tooth sample to cryogenic temperatures (liquid nitrogen, approximately -196°C) before mechanical pulverisation. Freezing prevents f...