Open AccessComparison of human and bovine dental enamel by TEM and t-EBSD investigations
Author(s) -
Anjela Koblischka-Veneva,
Michael Rudolf Koblischka,
Jörg Schmauch,
Matthias Hannig
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/625/1/012006
Subject(s) - electron backscatter diffraction , enamel paint , materials science , focused ion beam , transmission electron microscopy , tooth enamel , human tooth , scanning electron microscope , microstructure , nanostructure , composite material , nanotechnology , ion , chemistry , organic chemistry
The microstructures of human dental enamel and bovine enamel are compared to each other. To obtain samples for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), focused ion-beam (FIB) milling is used. The preparation of such TEM-slices is found to be very effective when operating the FIB with adapted parameters. After the milling process, the TEM-slices are then thinned by means of the ion beam to achieve samples being transparent for the electron beam. With a home-built sample holder, the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) can be operated in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) in transmission mode called t-EBSD. This technique enables the crystallographic orientation measurement on nanometer-sized, non-conducting enamel grains with a reasonable quality. Both TEM and t-EBSD images reveal a similar arrangement of the apatite crystals within the enamel, but it is obvious that the nanostructure of human enamel follows a more complex construction principle. The grain sizes of bovine enamel are much larger, and it is difficult to recognize the chain arrangement as found previously in the human enamel. As a result of the comparison, one can state that the nanostructure of human enamel is clearly more complicated than the bovine counterpart.