Structure and scale of the mechanics of mammalian dental enamel viewed from an evolutionary perspective

Evolution & Development
Peter W LucasAdam van Casteren

Abstract

Mammalian enamel, the contact dental tissue, is something of an enigma. It is almost entirely made of hydroxyapatite, yet exhibits very different mechanical behavior to a homogeneous block of the same mineral. Recent approaches suggest that its hierarchical composite form, similar to other biological hard tissues, leads to a mechanical performance that depends very much on the scale of measurement. The stiffness of the material is predicted to be highest at the nanoscale, being sacrificed to produce a high toughness at the largest scale, that is, at the level of the tooth crown itself. Yet because virtually all this research has been conducted only on human (or sometimes "bovine") enamel, there has been little regard for structural variation of the tissue considered as evolutionary adaptation to diet. What is mammalian enamel optimized for? We suggest that there are competing selective pressures. We suggest that the structural characteristics that optimize enamel to resist large-scale fractures, such as crown failures, are very different to those that resist wear (small-scale fracture). While enamel is always designed for damage tolerance, this may be suboptimal in the enamel of some species, including modern humans (which have...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 9, 2016·Interface Focus·Peter W LucasAnthony G Atkins
Sep 8, 2018·Nanoscale·Zhe WangBaiping Fu
Jul 12, 2020·Integrative and Comparative Biology·S B CroftsP S L Anderson
Nov 28, 2019·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Robert A Campbell, Mason N Dean
Jan 19, 2020·Scientific Reports·Adam van CasterenPeter W Lucas
Jul 4, 2020·Biomedical Materials·Victoria M WuVuk Uskoković
Feb 16, 2021·Annals of Anatomy = Anatomischer Anzeiger : Official Organ of the Anatomische Gesellschaft·Chaoyang WangBaiping Fu
Jan 10, 2020·Acta Biomaterialia·Jasmin KoldehoffGerold A Schneider
Mar 28, 2021·Science Advances·Laura BernalKatharina Zimmermann

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