Peritubular Dentin Lacks Piezoelectricity

Authors

S. Habelitz, University of California, San Francisco
B. J. Rodriguez, Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TNFollow
S. J. Marshall, University of California, San Francisco
G. W. Marshall, University of California, San Francisco
Sergei V. Kalinin, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryFollow
Alexei Gruverman, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

5-8-2007

Comments

Published in J Dent Res 86(9):908-911, 2007. Copyright 2007. Used by permission.

Abstract

Dentin is a mesenchymal tissue, and, as such, is based on a collagenous matrix that is reinforced by apatite mineral. Collagen fibrils show piezoelectricity, a phenomenon that is used by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) to obtain high-resolution images. We applied PFM to image human dentin with 10-nm resolution, and to test the hypothesis that zones of piezoactivity, indicating the presence of collagen fibrils, can be distinguished in dentin. Piezoelectricity was observed by PFM in the dentin intertubular matrix, while the peritubular dentin remained without response. High-resolution imaging of chemically treated intertubular dentin attributed the piezoelectric effect to individual collagen fibrils that differed in the signal strength, depending on the fibril orientation. This study supports the hypothesis that peritubular dentin is a noncollagenous tissue and is thus an exception among mineralized tissues that derive from the mesenchyme.