Detailed picture reveals how tooth enamel is strong enough to last a lifetime

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Institutes of Health)

Scientists have used advanced imaging techniques that can measure and visualize in color the orientation of individual enamel nanocrystals in human teeth. They found that these crystals are not perfectly aligned, as had been previously thought, and that this misorientation likely deflects cracks, leading to enamel's lifelong strength.