| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2021 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Biological Materials Science
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructural Variations in Mammalian Enamel: An Exploration of Decussation from the Micro- to the Macro-scale |
| Author(s) |
Cameron Renteria, Juliana María Fernández-Arteaga, Alexander Ossa, Dwayne Arola |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Dwayne Arola |
| Abstract Scope |
Enamel serves as the outermost tissue of mammalian teeth and must endure millions of masticatory cycles over an animal’s lifetime. Most mammals are diphyodonts and possess acellular enamel, which is incapable of repair by cellular regeneration. Damage tolerance of this tissue is essential to resist tooth failure and is primarily achieved by decussation, a meso-scale structural feature involving complex weaving of the enamel rods over their course from the tooth surface to the dentin-enamel junction (DEJ). The decussation pattern controls the path of crack extension by guiding cracks to regions where they can be arrested. While the decussation patterns of tooth enamel from different animal clades are unique, relatively limited work has been performed to characterize this unique aspect of microstructure. This study explores the variations in decussation patterns of tooth enamel across six mammals in an attempt to identify key aspects of enamel that can serve as bioinspiration. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Other, Mechanical Properties, Biomaterials |