Tooth chipping patterns in Archaeolemur provide insight into diet and behavior.

Objectives: Archaeolemur is a recently extinct genus of lemur that is often compared to some Cercopithecidae, especially baboons. This is due in part to their derived dentition, with large anterior teeth and reduced bilophodont molars. Research involving comparative morphology, analysis of coprolites, isotopes, and enamel structure, have suggested Archaeolemur had an omnivorous diet involving mechanically challenging items.

Fundamental mechanics of tooth fracture and wear: implications for humans and other primates.

Until recently, there had been little attempt in the literature to identify and quantify the underlying mechanics of tooth durability in terms of materials engineering concepts. In humans and most mammals, teeth must endure a lifetime of sustained occlusal mastication-they have to resist fracture and wear. It is well documented that teeth are resilient, but what are the unique features that make this possible? The present article surveys recent materials engineering research aimed at addressing this fundamental question.

Phytoliths can cause tooth wear.

Comparative laboratory sliding wear tests on extracted human molar teeth in artificial saliva with third-body particulates demonstrate that phytoliths can be as effective as silica grit in the abrasion of enamel. A pin-on-disc wear testing configuration is employed, with an extracted molar cusp as a pin on a hard disc antagonist, under loading conditions representative of normal chewing forces. Concentrations and sizes of phytoliths in the wear test media match those of silica particles.

On the vital role of enamel prism interfaces and graded properties in human tooth survival.

Teeth of omnivores face a formidable evolutionary challenge: how to protect against fracture and abrasive wear caused by the wide variety of foods they process. It is hypothesized that this challenge is met in part by adaptations in enamel microstructure. The low-crowned teeth of humans and some other omnivorous mammals exhibit multiple fissures running longitudinally along the outer enamel walls, yet remain intact.

Enamel chipping in Taï Forest cercopithecids: Implications for diet reconstruction in paleoanthropological contexts.

Antemortem enamel chipping in living and fossil primates is often interpreted as evidence of hard-object feeding (i.e., 'durophagy').

Role of particulate concentration in tooth wear.

Results are presented for wear tests on human molar enamel in silica particle mediums. Data for different particle concentrations show severe wear indicative of material removal by plasticity-induced microcrack formation, in accordance with earlier studies. The wear rates are independent of low vol% particles, consistent with theoretical models in which occlusal loads are distributed evenly over all interfacial microcontacts.

On the evolutionary advantage of multi-cusped teeth.

A hallmark of mammalian evolution is a progressive complexity in postcanine tooth morphology. However, the driving force for this complexity remains unclear: whether to expand the versatility in diet source, or to bolster tooth structural integrity. In this study, we take a quantitative approach to this question by examining the roles of number, position and height of multiple cusps in determining sustainable bite forces.

Simulation of enamel wear for reconstruction of diet and feeding behavior in fossil animals: A micromechanics approach.

The deformation and wear events that underlie microwear and macrowear signals commonly used for dietary reconstruction in fossil animals can be replicated and quantified by controlled laboratory tests on extracted tooth specimens in conjunction with fundamental micromechanics analysis. Key variables governing wear relations include angularity, stiffness (modulus), and size of the contacting particle, along with material properties of enamel. Both axial and sliding contacts can result in the removal of tooth enamel.

Mechanics of microwear traces in tooth enamel.

It is hypothesized that microwear traces in natural tooth enamel can be simulated and quantified using microindentation mechanics. Microcontacts associated with particulates in the oral wear medium are modeled as sharp indenters with fixed semi-apical angle. Distinction is made between markings from static contacts (pits) and translational contacts (scratches).

Sea otter dental enamel is highly resistant to chipping due to its microstructure.

Dental enamel is prone to damage by chipping with large hard objects at forces that depend on chip size and enamel toughness. Experiments on modern human teeth have suggested that some ante-mortem chips on fossil hominin enamel were produced by bite forces near physiological maxima. Here, we show that equivalent chips in sea otter enamel require even higher forces than human enamel.

A model for predicting wear rates in tooth enamel.

It is hypothesized that wear of enamel is sensitive to the presence of sharp particulates in oral fluids and masticated foods. To this end, a generic model for predicting wear rates in brittle materials is developed, with specific application to tooth enamel. Wear is assumed to result from an accumulation of elastic-plastic micro-asperity events.

Inferring biological evolution from fracture patterns in teeth.

It is hypothesised that specific tooth forms are adapted to resist fracture, in order to accommodate the high bite forces needed to secure, break down and consume food. Three distinct modes of tooth fracture are identified: longitudinal fracture, where cracks run vertically between the occlusal contact and the crown margin (or vice versa) within the enamel side wall; chipping fracture, where cracks run from near the edge of the occlusal surface to form a spall in the enamel at the side wall; and transverse fracture, where a crack runs horizontally through the entire section of the tooth to break off a fragment and expose the inner pulp. Explicit equations are presented expressing critical bite force for each fracture mode in terms of characteristic tooth dimensions.

The role of tooth enamel mechanical properties in primate dietary adaptation.

Primate teeth adapt to the physical properties of foods in a variety of ways including changes in occlusal morphology, enamel thickness, and overall size. We conducted a comparative study of extant primates to examine whether their teeth also adapt to foods through variation in the mechanical properties of the enamel. Nanoindentation techniques were used to map profiles of elastic modulus and hardness across tooth sections from the enamel-dentin junction to the outer enamel surface in a broad sample of primates including apes, Old World monkeys, New World monkeys, and lemurs.

Fracture susceptibility of worn teeth.

An experimental simulation study is made to determine the effects of occlusal wear on the capacity of teeth to resist fracture. Tests are carried out on model dome structures, using glass shells to represent enamel and epoxy filler to represent dentin. The top of the domes are ground and polished to produce flat surfaces of prescribed depths relative to shell thickness.

Fracture in teeth: a diagnostic for inferring bite force and tooth function.

Teeth are brittle and highly susceptible to cracking. We propose that observations of such cracking can be used as a diagnostic tool for predicting bite force and inferring tooth function in living and fossil mammals. Laboratory tests on model tooth structures and extracted human teeth in simulated biting identify the principal fracture modes in enamel.

Adaptation to hard-object feeding in sea otters and hominins.

The large, bunodont postcanine teeth in living sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have been likened to those of certain fossil hominins, particularly the 'robust' australopiths (genus Paranthropus). We examine this evolutionary convergence by conducting fracture experiments on extracted molar teeth of sea otters and modern humans (Homo sapiens) to determine how load-bearing capacity relates to tooth morphology and enamel material properties. In situ optical microscopy and x-ray imaging during simulated occlusal loading reveal the nature of the fracture patterns.

Properties of tooth enamel in great apes.

A comparative study has been made of human and great ape molar tooth enamel. Nanoindentation techniques are used to map profiles of elastic modulus and hardness across sections from the enamel-dentin junction to the outer tooth surface. The measured data profiles overlap between species, suggesting a degree of commonality in material properties.

Tooth chipping can reveal the diet and bite forces of fossil hominins.

Mammalian tooth enamel is often chipped, providing clear evidence for localized contacts with large hard food objects. Here, we apply a simple fracture equation to estimate peak bite forces directly from chip size. Many fossil hominins exhibit antemortem chips on their posterior teeth, indicating their use of high bite forces.

The importance of fallback foods in primate ecology and evolution.

The role of fallback foods in shaping primate ranging, socioecology, and morphology has recently become a topic of particular interest to biological anthropologists. Although the use of fallback resources has been noted in the ecological and primatological literature for a number of decades, few attempts have been made to define fallback foods or to explore the utility of this concept for primate evolutionary biologists and ecologists. As a preface to this special issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology devoted to the topic of fallback foods in primate ecology and evolution, we discuss the development and use of the fallback concept and highlight its importance in primatology and paleoanthropology.

The influence of fallback foods on great ape tooth enamel.

Lucas and colleagues recently proposed a model based on fracture and deformation concepts to describe how mammalian tooth enamel may be adapted to the mechanical demands of diet (Lucas et al.: Bioessays 30 2008 374-385). Here we review the applicability of that model by examining existing data on the food mechanical properties and enamel morphology of great apes (Pan, Pongo, and Gorilla).

Indentation as a technique to assess the mechanical properties of fallback foods.

A number of living primates feed part-year on seemingly hard food objects as a fallback. We ask here how hardness can be quantified and how this can help understand primate feeding ecology. We report a simple indentation methodology for quantifying hardness, elastic modulus, and toughness in the sense that materials scientists would define them.

Primate dental enamel: what it says about diet.

What kinds of fractures do teeth sustain and how do they resist disintegration? This study involved the mechanical loading of extracted human and sea otter teeth using hard and soft indenters to simulate hard and soft diets. The tests were accompanied by real-time imaging. At least three types of fracture were seen in the enamel--median, radial and margin cracks.

Predicting failure in mammalian enamel.

Dentition is a vital element of human and animal function, yet there is little fundamental knowledge about how tooth enamel endures under stringent oral conditions. This paper describes a novel approach to the issue. Model glass dome specimens fabricated from glass and back-filled with polymer resin are used as representative of the basic enamel/dentine shell structure.

Remarkable resilience of teeth.

Tooth enamel is inherently weak, with fracture toughness comparable with glass, yet it is remarkably resilient, surviving millions of functional contacts over a lifetime. We propose a microstructural mechanism of damage resistance, based on observations from ex situ loading of human and sea otter molars (teeth with strikingly similar structural features). Section views of the enamel implicate tufts, hypomineralized crack-like defects at the enamel-dentin junction, as primary fracture sources.