A Rapid Method for Preparing Paraffin Serial Sections of Teeth and Their Supporting Structures in the Dog

A method of preparing dogs' teeth for serial sectioning involving the following steps is described. The tissues are fixed in 10% formalin followed by partial dehydration in 80% iso-propyl alcohol; decalcified in 5% nitric acid in 10% formalin; washed for 5-8 hours in running water and neutralized in 5% aqueous sodium sulfate for 24 hours, followed by further washing in running water for another 24 hours. They are then dehydrated over a period of 4 days in increasing grades of iso-propyl alcohol and embedded in tissue-mat in sub-atmospheric pressure of 10 lb. Sections so obtained were better suited for cytological study than celloidin preparations, and serial sections could be obtained in a much shorter time.