Characterising the micro-mechanical behaviour of the carious dentine of primary teeth using nano-indentation

A better appreciation of the properties of carious dentine would be of clinical advantage in carious assessment and management. The aim of this study is to understand the deterioration of the mechanical properties of carious dentine as a result of bacterial demineralising process as well as change in dentine structures observed under scanning electronic microscope. Eight primary molar teeth with untreated carious dentine were axially sectioned and fine polished for nano-indentation. On each specimen, six lines of indentation, evenly distributed through the lesion, were made from the pulp to lesion cavity floor parallel to tubule direction using nano-indentation (Ultra Micro Indentation System, UMIS-2000), while another two indentation lines were made on an adjacent region of sound dentine in the same manner. All tests were conducted on hydrated specimens. Hardness and elastic modulus decreased significantly and progressively toward the cavity floor varying from 0.56 to 0.001 GPa and 14.55 to 0.015 GPa, respectively. The change in mechanical properties was in a specific pattern as a function of lesion depth, in which the hardness could be fitted to an exponential function, while the variation of the elastic modulus across the entire lesion was fitted to a power law relationship. More critical evaluation of the elastic modulus data indicated that two distinct exponential functions provided an excellent fit to the results. These changes in elastic modulus also matched the structural changes seen across a lesion, which were associated with a change from primarily peritubular to intertubular dissolution.