Role of the Mineral in the Self-Healing of Cracks in Human Enamel

Lew, Andrew J.; Beniash, Elia; Gilbert, Pupa U. P. A.; Buehler, Markus J.

doi:10.1021/acsnano.1c10407

Role of the Mineral in the Self-Healing of Cracks in Human Enamel

Journal Article · Fri Jun 24 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · ACS Nano

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c10407· OSTI ID:1963454

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Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Human enamel is an incredibly resilient biological material, withstanding repeated daily stresses for decades. The mechanisms behind this resilience remain an open question, with recent studies demonstrating a crack-deflection mechanism contributing to enamel toughness and other studies detailing the roles of the organic matrix and remineralization. Here, we focus on the mineral and hypothesize that self-healing of cracks in enamel nanocrystals may be an additional mechanism acting to prevent catastrophic failure. To test this hypothesis, we used a molecular dynamics (MD) approach to compare the fracture behavior of hydroxyapatite (HAP) and calcite, the main minerals in human enamel and sea urchin teeth, respectively. In this work, we find that cracks heal under pressures typical of mastication by fusion of crystals in HAP but not in calcite, which is consistent with the resilience of HAP enamel that calcite teeth lack. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images of structurally intact ("sound") human enamel show dashed-line nanocracks that resemble and therefore might be the cracks healed by fusion of crystals produced in silico. The fast, self-healing mechanism shown here is common in soft materials and ceramics but has not been observed in single crystalline materials at room temperature. The crack self-healing in sound enamel nanocrystals, therefore, is unique in the human body and unique in materials science, with potential applications in designing bioinspired materials.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR); National Science Foundation (NSF); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; FG02-07ER15899

OSTI ID:: 1963454

Journal Information:: ACS Nano, Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 16; ISSN 1936-0851

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Role of the Mineral in the Self-Healing of Cracks in Human Enamel

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References (53)

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