Jh. Kinney et al., ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPE MEASUREMENTS OF THE HARDNESS AND ELASTICITY OF PERITUBULAR AND INTERTUBULAR HUMAN DENTIN, Journal of biomechanical engineering, 118(1), 1996, pp. 133-135
An atomic force microscope was used to measure the hardness and elasti
city of fully-hydrated peritubular and intertubular human dentin. The
standard silicon nitride AFM tip and silicon cantilever assembly were
replaced with a diamond tip and stainless steel cantilever having sign
ificantly higher stiffness. Hardness was measured as the ratio of the
applied force to the projected indentation area for indentations with
depths from 10-20 nm. The sample stiffness was measured by imaging spe
cimens in a force-modulated mode. Hardness values of 2.3 +/- 0.3 GPa a
nd 0.5 +/- 0.1 GPa were measured for the peritubular and intertubular
dentin, respectively. Stiffness imaging revealed that the elastic modu
lus of the peritubular dentin was spatially homogeneous; whereas, ther
e was considerable spatial variation in the elasticity of the intertub
ular dentin. The atomic force microscope can be used to measure the me
chanical properties of fully hydrated calcified tissues at the submicr
on level of spatial resolution, thus augmenting more traditional depth
sensing probes.