Atomic-force microscopic study of dimensional changes in human dentine during drying

Six 1-mm thick sections of human dentine, three parallel to the occlusal surface and three perpendicular to the buccal surface, were prepared from non-carious third molars. The enamel was ground off, and the sections were polished with alumina powder to remove the smear layer. Each section was imaged by atomic-force microscopy with 20 nm horizontal and 0.1 nm vertical resolutions, initially while the samples were immersed in deionized water and then periodically during drying at room temperature. No dimensional changes over microscopic fields of view (scanned areas smaller than 50 x 50 microns) could be detected within the precision of the measurements (< 0.5%). Across the entire sample, however, vertical displacements of 10-20 microns were measured. Elasticity (Bernoulli beam) theory was used to calculate the engineering strain required to produce these displacements. The magnitude of the strain was 0.04% (SD = 0.01) in the buccal sections in the direction of the tubule axis and 0.09% (SD = 0.02) in the direction normal to the tubule axis. Also, the strain alternated between tension and compression across the samples. It was concluded that, as determined by using microscopic techniques, drying-induced strain is too small to require corrections for tubule size and tubule density.