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Journal of Dental Research
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Biomaterials & Bioengineering

Structural Integrity of Enamel: Experimental and Modeling

Z. Xie1,2,*, M.V Swain3 and M.J. Hoffman4

1 Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA;
2 School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA6027, Australia;
3 Biomaterials Research Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; and
4 School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Correspondence: * z.xie{at}ecu.edu.au

Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue in the human body and is directly responsible for dental function. Due to its non-regenerative nature, enamel is unable to heal and repair itself biologically after damage. We hypothesized that with its unique microstructure, enamel possesses excellent resistance to contact-induced damage, regardless of loading direction. By combining instrumented indentation tests with microstructural analysis, we report that enamel can absorb indentation energy through shear deformation within its protein layers between apatite crystallites. Moreover, a near-isotropic inelastic response was observed when we analyzed indentation data in directions either perpendicular or parallel to the path of enamel prisms. An "effective" crystal orientation angle, 33°–34°, was derived for enamel microstructure, independent of the loading direction. These findings will help guide the design of the nanostructural architecture of dental restorative materials.

Key Words: tooth enamel • contact damage resistance • stress-strain behaviour • crystal orientation angle • structural integrity

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 88, No. 6, 529-533 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022034509337130
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