Bionic design perspectives based on the formation mechanism of dental anti-wear function

Human teeth are the important masticatory organ and therefore are subjected to friction and wear everyday. Both the loading condition and the environment are relatively complex in the mouth, however, normally human teeth can serve in mouth all their time with excellent wear resistance in most people. Obviously, through the process of human evolution, human teeth have become a natural anti-wear system that far outclasses the best engineering anti-wear systems at present. To understand the excellent anti-wear properties of human teeth, we need to look into what act as the wear resisting elements of human teeth. In this paper, based on the results obtained by the authors and from literatures, the formation mechanism of dental anti-wear function was summarized. Particular attention was paid to the multi-scale anti-wear mechanism caused by the unique hierarchical structure of human teeth, the self-repair mechanism by tooth remineralization, and the cooperating lubrication mechanism of salivary pellicle upon tooth surface and the hydration proteins within the tooth. Based on the formation mechanism of dental anti-wear function, some bionic design perspectives were discussed and future research directions are recommended.