title: Properties of tooth enamel in great apes.
abstract: A comparative study has been made of human and great ape molar tooth enamel. Nanoindentation techniques are used to map profiles of elastic modulus and hardness across sections from the enamel-dentin junction to the outer tooth surface. The measured data profiles overlap between species, suggesting a degree of commonality in material properties. Using established deformation and fracture relations, critical loads to produce function-threatening damage in the enamel of each species are calculated for characteristic tooth sizes and enamel thicknesses. The results suggest that differences in load-bearing capacity of molar teeth in primates are less a function of underlying material properties than of morphology.
authors.affiliation: Ceramics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA. james.lee@nist.gov
authors.forename: James J-W
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Constantino
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Tanya M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Lawn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006244:Hardness; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology