Mechanical properties of human enamel as a function of age and location in the tooth

  • Saejin Park
  • Duck H. Wang
  • Dongsheng Zhang
  • Elaine Romberg
  • Dwayne Arola
Article
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Abstract

Aging and the related changes in mechanical behavior of hard tissues of the human body are becoming increasingly important. In this study the influence of aging on the mechanical behavior of human enamel was evaluated using 3rd molars from young (18 ≤ age ≤ 30 years) and old (55 ≤ age) patients. The hardness and elastic modulus were quantified using nanoindentation as a function of distance from the Dentin–Enamel Junction (DEJ) and within three different regions of the crown (i.e. cervical, cuspal and inter-cuspal enamel). Results of the evaluation showed that the elastic modulus and hardness increased with distance from the DEJ in all three regions examined, regardless of patient age. The largest increases with distance from the DEJ occurred within the cervical region of the old enamel. Overall, the results showed that there were no age-dependent differences in properties of enamel near the DEJ. However, near the tooth’s surface, both the hardness (p < 0.025) and elastic modulus (p < 0.0001) were significantly greater in the old enamel. At the surface of the tooth the average elastic modulus of “old” enamel was nearly 20% greater than that of enamel from the young patients.

Keywords

Elastic Modulus Fracture Toughness Property Distribution Absolute Distance Human Enamel 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge that the investigation was made possible by support from the National Science Foundation (Award #: BES 0521467).

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  • Saejin Park
    • 1
  • Duck H. Wang
    • 2
  • Dongsheng Zhang
    • 3
  • Elaine Romberg
    • 4
  • Dwayne Arola
    • 1
    • 5
  1. 1.Department of Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Maryland Baltimore CountyBaltimoreUSA
  2. 2.School of Mechanical Engineering and AutomationKyungnam UniversityMasanSouth Korea
  3. 3.Department of MechanicsShanghai UniversityShanghaiChina
  4. 4.Department of Health Promotion and PolicyBaltimore College of Dental Surgery, University of MarylandBaltimoreUSA
  5. 5.Department of Endodontics, Prosthodontics, and Operative DentistryBaltimore College of Dental Surgery, University of MarylandBaltimoreUSA

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