Photo by Mandy Jouan on Flickr.com
Engineers have very extreme difficulty creating enamel since it is the human body’s hardest tissue. Scientists from Russia and Egypt undertook research in which a tooth covering resembling nature was created by tinkering with the natural mineral composition of enamel. A newly created dental veneer might provide teeth with greater strength than usual.
The newly created dental veneer was created from the base up using hydroxyapatite. In both humans and animals, this material is the major constituent of bone tissue and mineral tissue. Researchers provided hydroxyapatite that contains naturally present amino acid complexes important for bone regeneration. Later, this mineralized layer started to show traits similar to those found in tooth enamel.
Scientists analyzed the novel material’s characteristics using atomic force microscopy, field emission electrons, and chemical imaging. The mineral layer was found to replicate the natural enamel’s structure, which is made up of apatite nanocrystals with a thickness of 300 to 500 nm. The new covering was seen to have a harder structure than native tooth enamel, which is the most significant discovery.
