While teeth may appear hard and unchanging, a recent study reveals their dynamic and informative nature as biomaterials.
In a study published in the American Chemical Society journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, a multidisciplinary research team has discovered that teeth hold key biological clues that could provide insights into rare craniofacial disorders that develop during childhood.
The study was led by Kyle Vining, an assistant professor in the Penn School of Dental Medicine and Engineering, in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn Medicine, and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics.
The research team employed an innovative approach, combining materials science, mineralogy, and human genetics, leveraging the unique structure of rodent teeth to systematically characterize the changing properties of enamel and dentin during development.
This research has the potential to advance our understanding of rare craniofacial disorders in children and also provide new diagnostic and treatment options for common oral conditions such as cavities.
“Many people think of teeth as being like bones, but their composition and developmental mechanisms are fundamentally different, requiring specialized tools to study them,” Vining explained.
To explore the core question of how teeth are mineralized, the researchers borrowed a technique from geology—nanoindentation, an instrument commonly used to measure the hardness of rocks.
They applied this technique to analyze tiny sections of tooth enamel, assessing its elasticity, hardness, and mineral content.
In addition, the team used a variety of advanced tools, including scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of mouse teeth at 12 days old.
This timeframe was chosen because enamel has formed but the bone has not yet fully hardened, making it easier to manipulate experimentally.
“We are excited to bring materials science tools to the study of tooth development,” said Vining, “which opens the possibility of developing future diagnostic technologies or new caries filling materials.”
The research also expanded into biology, using mouse models that mimic Mendelian genetic diseases to explore mechanisms similar to those found in human craniofacial syndromes. This work lays the foundation for their ongoing research into inherited craniofacial disorders.
In the long term, the researchers hope that this discovery will help identify enamel defects, assess treatment effectiveness, and even predict disease risk, leading to breakthroughs in precision dentistry.