Abstract
The body of a tooth is composed of dentine, a moderately mineralized tissue which exists in several histological forms. The tissue at the functional surface, which contacts the food, is hypermineralized, so is durable and can overcome the mechanical resistance of the food. The food-contacting tissue may be enamel, enameloid, pleromin or petodentine. The composition and structure of these hard tissues and their variants are described. Their mechanical properties, including hardness, elastic modulus and toughness are summarised. Because the food-contacting tissues are hypermineralized, they tend to be brittle. The toughness of teeth is increased by the support provided to the hypermineralized tissues by the more compliant dentine. Structural and compositional gradients and heterogeneities within the hard tissues reduce crack initiation and propagation and thereby increase toughness further. As well as supporting the hypermineralized food-contacting tissues, the dentine encloses the dental pulp. In mammals, this has a crucial role in maintaining tooth integrity by a variety of activities. It is not known whether this is true in non-mammalian vertebrates but the small amount of available information is summarised.
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