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Researchers recently conducted what they believe is an innovative study of teeth.
The scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany constructed a digital human set of teeth through an engineering approach. This will provide the ability for unprecedented analysis, including looking at the enamel and dentin at the base of the crown and how there may be a correlation between the lowering of tooth wear in some countries.
The information appeared one the Web site for Internet publication PLoS ONE.
The reason for this study was necessitated by the wear and tear that comes from chewing food and the evolution that humans have undergone since their existence.
The researchers utilized advanced methods to go along with their new technology. With this technology at their disposal, the researchers could create many different levels of wear and tear and other environmental factors. They could then see what impact the various factors had on teeth. The research team also had the ability to determine the stress patterns based on how worn out the tooth was.
This information could enable dentists to pinpoint exact locations on a tooth where there’s more stress than other places.
To this point, one of the biggest challenges dentists encounter is tooth wear and what eventual impact it will have on one’s teeth.
*Photo Credit: Dental tissue and supporting structures of the second premolar of the right mandible after segmentation. (Credit: © Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
