Abstract
Quantitative Atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) was used to measure the nanomechanical properties in human dental enamel associated with microstructural locations. AFAM measurements were made on samples from human molars at locations near the occlusal surface and the dentine enamel junction (DEJ). Within these locations, single point AFAM testing was performed on individual prism and sheath regions within the enamel microsctructure. Orientation changes in the enamel properties were observed by measurements in the perpendicular and parallel directions to enamel prisms. From quantitative AFAM, elastic modulus of the sample surfaces is calculated based on the measured cantilever frequency and probe tip geometry. Mean elastic modulus of the prismatic enamel was 109 ± 1 GPa and the enamel sheath was 96 ± 2 GPa, measured at the occlusal surface. Elastic modulus was found to decrease by 49% when measured in the direction normal to the prism parallel axis, and decrease by ~6.5% between the locations at the occlusal surface and those near the DEJ. The property variation of the prism and sheath is associated to the differences in the mineral to organic content, with the orientation differences due to the apatite crystal directions within the enamel microstructure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Tencate AR. Oral Histology: Development, Structure, and Function, 4th ed. Mosby (1994)
Miles AEW. Structural and Chemical Organization of Teeth, Vol. II. Academic Press (1967)
Xu HHK, Smith DT, Jahanmir S, Romberg E, Kelly JR, Thompson VP, Rekow ED: Indentation damage and mechanical properties of human enamel and dentin. J. of Dental Res. 1998; 77:472–480.
Park S, Wang DH, Zhang D, Romberg E, Arola D: Mechanical properties of human enamel as a function of age and location in the tooth. J. of Matls. Sci.: Matls. in Med. 2008; 19:2317–2324.
Meckel AH, Griebstein WJ, Neal RJ: Structure of mature human dental enamel as observed by electron microscopy. Arch. Oral Biol. 1965; 10:775–784.
Meckel AH, Griebstein WJ, Neal RJ: Ultrastructure of fully calcified human dental enamel. In Tooth enamel, its composition, properties and fundamental structure (eds. Stack MV, Fearnhead RW). John Wright (1962).
Willems G, Celis JP, Lambrechts P, Braem M, Vanherle G: Hardness and Young’s modulus determined by nanoindentation technique of filler particles of dental restorative materials compared with human enamel. J. Biomed. Matls. Res. 1993; 27:747–755.
Habelitz S, Marshall SJ, Marshall GW, Balooch M: Mechanical properties of human dental enamel on the nanometer scale. Arch. Oral Biol. 2001; 46:173–183.
Cuy JL, Mann AB, Livi KJ, Teaford MF, Weihs TP: Nanoindentation mapping of the mechanical properties of human molar tooth enamel. Arch. Oral Biol. 2002; 47:281–291.
Ge J, Cui FZ, Wang XM, Feng HL: Property variations in the prism and organic sheath within enamel by nanoindentation. Biomaterials 2005; 26:3333–3339.
Bajaj D, Arola DD: On the R-curve behavior of human tooth enamel. Biomaterials 2009; 30:4037–4046.
Lippert F, Parker DM, Jandt KD: In vitro demineralization/remineralization cycles at human tooth enamel surfaces investigated by AFM and nanoindentation. J. Colloid Interf. Sci. 2004; 280:442–448.
Balooch G, Marshall GW, Marshall SJ, Warren OL, Asif SA, Balooch M: Evaluation of a new modulus mapping technique to investigate microstructural features of human teeth. J. Biomech. 2004; 37:1223–1232.
Habelitz S, Marshall SJ, Marshall GW, Balooch M: The functional width of the dentino-enamel junction determined by AFM-based nanoscratching. J. of Struct. Biol. 2001; 135:294–301.
Rodriguez BJ, Kalinin SV, Shin J, Jesse S, Grichko V, Thundat T, Baddorf AP, Gruverman A: Electromechanical imaging of biomaterials by scanning probe microscopy. J. Struct. Biol. 2006; 153:151–159.
Ngwa W, Luo W, Kamanyi A, Fomba KW, Grill W. Characterization of polymer thin films by phase-sensitive acoustic microscopy and atomic force microscopy: a comparative review. Journal of Microscopy-Oxford 2005; 218:208–218.
Kester E, Rabe U, Presmanes L, Tailhades P, Arnold W: Measurement of mechanical properties of nanoscaled ferrites using atomic force microscopy at ultrasonic frequencies. Nanostructured Materials 1999; 12:779–782.
Hurley DC, Geiss RH, Kopycinska-Muller M, Muller J, Read DT, Wright JE, Jennett NM, Maxwell AS: Anisotropic elastic properties of nanocrystalline nickel thin films. Journal of Materials Research 2005; 20:1186–1193.
Rabe U, Amelio S, Kester E, Scherer V, Hirsekorn S, Arnold W: Quantitative determination of contact stiffness using atomic force acoustic microscopy. Ultrasonics 2000; 38:430–437.
Rabe U, Janser K, Arnold W: Vibrations of free and surface-coupled atomic force microscope cantilevers: Theory and experiment. Review of Scientific Instruments 1996; 67:3281–3293.
Wright OB, Nishiguchi N: Vibrational dynamics of force microscopy: Effect of tip dimensions. Applied Physics Letters 1997; 71:626–628.
Yamanaka K, Nakano S: Quantitative elasticity evaluation by contact resonance in an atomic force microscope. Applied Physics a-Materials Science & Processing 1998; 66:313–317.
Hirsekorn S, Rabe U, Arnold W. Theoretical description of the transfer of vibrations from a sample to the cantilever of an atomic force microscope. Nanotechnology 1997;8(2):57–66.
Hutter JL, Bechhoefer J: Calibration of atomic-force microscope tips. Review of Scientific Instruments 1993; 64:1868–1873.
Zhao W, Singh RP, Korach CS: Effects of environmental degradation on near-fiber nanomechanical properties of carbon fiber epoxy composites. Composites: Part A 2009; 40:675–678.
Johnson KL. Contact Mechanics. Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Katz JL, Ukraincik K: On the anisotropic properties of hydroxyapatite. J. Biomech. 1971; 4:221–227.
Sha MC, Li Z, Bradt RC: Single-crystal elastic constants of fluorapatite. J. Appl. Phys. 1994; 75:7784–7787.
Spears IR: A three-dimensional finite-element model of prismatic enamel: a re-appraisal of the data on the Young’s modulus of enamel. J. Dent. Res. 1997; 76:1690–1697.
Shimizu D, Macho GA, Spears IR: Effect of prism orientation and loading direction on contact stresses in prismatic enamel of primates: implications for interpreting wear patterns. Am. J. Phys. Anthop. 2005; 126:427–434.
Miura J, Maeda Y, Nakai H, Zako M: Multiscale analysis of stress distribution in teeth under applied forces. Dent. Matls. 2009; 25:67–73.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this paper
Cite this paper
Zhao, W., Cao, C., Korach, C.S. (2011). Measurement of Structural Variations in Enamel Nanomechanical Properties using Quantitative Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy. In: Proulx, T. (eds) Time Dependent Constitutive Behavior and Fracture/Failure Processes, Volume 3. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9794-4_52
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9794-4_52
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-9498-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-9794-4
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)