The dental enamel is a highly important and highly complex structure, which has been surprisingly difficult to study. In an effort to better understand this structure, a team of researchers led by Derk Joester of Northwestern University is looking to an unlikely subject: beavers.
Beavers have an impressive set of incisors. These teeth have a lot of heavy-duty work to do, and they don’t have the benefit of regular tooth brushing or fluoridated water. They therefore need to be harder and more resistant to acid than our own enamel. It has been found that the superior power of beaver teeth comes from inclusions of iron in the enamel. Nanowires of hydroxylapatite make up the core structure of the enamel, and an amorphous mass of iron-rich minerals fill in the space in between.
This amorphous mass is an important revelation for the dentistry field. Though this mass makes up very little of the enamel, it is apparently responsible for giving teeth their acid resistance. Further, while the chemical composition of a beaver’s tooth is different from our own, the structure is largely the same. Researchers could use this information to come up with innovative new ways to protect our teeth.
