APPLICATION NOTE

By: Hanson Fong

Mehmet Sarikaya
Univ. of WA
and M. Snead, USC

Nanomechanical Properties
at the Dentin-Enamel Junction

Introduction
Mammalian tooth is a hard and tough, functionally- 2500

gradient composite. The exterior structure is enamel 2000

Enamel
composed of almost 100% prismatic hydroxyapatite

Load (µN)
1500
H = 4.20 GPa
(HAP) crystallites, making it hard and wear resistant, 80 nm 1000 Er = 101.5 GPa
500
but brittle. The interior adjacent structure is dentin,
0
composed predominantly of collagen fibrils and 0 20 40 60 80
Depth (nm)
100 120

HAP, which is considerably softer but resilient. The 400

Dentin
350
dentin-enamel junction (DEJ), which bridges the two 300
250

Load (µN)
structures, is found by our TEM and AFM studies to be 0 nm 200
H = 0.71 GPa
Er = 28.1 GPa
a transition region that exhibits structural coupling of 150
100

enamel and dentin. 50

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Depth (nm)
The Hysitron TriboScope™ is the first instrument to
Figure 1: b) Two indentations are shown, one in the enamel region and one
report the measurement of hardness profile across DEJ. in the dentin region.
The hardness profile was made possible by the combined
in-situ SPM imaging and small load capabilities of the Example
Hysitron TriboScope.
Figure 1 is a Hysitron image of a polished DEJ region of
a deciduous incisor tooth. The RMS roughness over a 2
µm by 2 µm area is 5 nm or less. The indentation size
of each indent, approximately 100 nm deep by 800 nm
projected diameter, is used because it is large enough
to represent the microstructure (based on TEM results)
without significant influence from surface roughness
(<5% standard deviation in hardness) and small enough
to resolve the mechanical property change across the
Figure 1: a) AFM image of a polished section of the dentin-enamel junction DEJ region.
(DEJ) of a tooth.

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 The hardness profile of a deciduous incisor tooth,
shown in Figure 2, is from tooth surface to dentin
region and reveals a continuous change in hardness in
a 40 µm region across DEJ demonstrating that there is
mechanical coupling in this region.

Shown in Figure 3 are two hardness profiles of an

adult incisor tooth across DEJ. In each case, the
4.5
image above the hardness plot clearly shows the
4 enamel region (left side of the image) and dentin
3.5

region (right side of the image across the DEJ region.

Hardness (GPa)

2.5

1.5
Conclusion
The nanoindentation tests distinguish enamel and
1

0.5

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
dentin regions in mammalian tooth by measuring
hardness and Young’s modulus. The hardness
Dist ance f r om Toot h Sur f ace ( µ m)

Distance from Tooth Surface, µm

profile analysis indicates a continuous change in
Figure 2: Hardness profile of a deciduous incisor tooth. The optical pictures
(not actual surface indented) serve to illustrate the approximate location of the hardness across the transition region that exhibits
indentation.
structural coupling of enamel and dentin (DEJ).
These give direct proof for previous TEM and AFM
observations from a mechanical point of view.

4 3

3.5
2.5
3
2
Figure 3: a) & b) Hardness profiles across DEJ of an
Hardness (GPa)

Hardness (GPa)

2.5
adult incisor tooth.
2 1.5

1.5
1
1
0.5
0.5

0 0
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15

A Distance (um )
B Distance (um )

References:
1. Published in Journal of Materials Science & Engineering.

BIO03ANr1.f

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