title: On the initial propagation of dental caries.
abstract: A multi-dimensional model for dental caries is applied to study the shape of caries lesions in a realistic tooth geometry and to examine the rate of progress of caries. An upgraded model, taking into account the outer prismless enamel layer, is derived and solved. The model demonstrates the importance of this layer in delaying the onset of caries. The conclusions are discussed in light of experimental results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Amado Building, Haifa 32000, Israel Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Facultad de Matemáticas, Universidad Complutense, Madrid 28040, Spain reneif07@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fabregas
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Amado Building, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
mesh_terms: D003731:Dental Caries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D014070:Tooth / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: caries; enamel; mathematical model; prismless layer