New Artificial Tooth Structure Shows Its Strength

A model similar to the outer structure of the tooth is developed by researchers, according to a study published in the journal Science.

Enamel is the thin outer layer of teeth, which is the hardest biological material in the human body. It is renowned for its high stiffness, hardness, viscoelasticity, strength, and toughness and exhibits exceptional damage resistance, despite being only several millimeters thick.

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‘Tooth’s outer structure is an ideal model for designing biomimetic materials and exhibiting mechanical properties.’

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Tooth enamel’s unusual combination of properties is a product of its hierarchical architecture, a complex structure made up of mostly hydroxyapatite nanowires interconnected by an amorphous intergranular phase (AIP) consisting of magnesium-substituted amorphous calcium phosphate.

However, accurately replicating this type of hierarchical organization in a scalable abiotic composite has remained a challenge.

To overcome this, researchers present an engineered enamel that contains the essential hierarchical structure at multiple scales.

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The artificial tooth enamel (ATE) was produced using AIP-coated hydroxyapatite nanowires, which were aligned using dual-directional freezing in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol. This allowed the engineered structures to have an atomic, nanoscale, and microscale organization like natural enamel.

In a series of tests, researchers demonstrated that the ATE nanocomposite simultaneously exhibited high stiffness, hardness, strength, viscoelasticity, and toughness, exceeding both the properties of enamel and previously manufactured materials.

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