HKU Dentistry invents new material to replace extracted human teeth for dental research

Hong Kong: Researchers at the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have developed dentine analogue materials that can replace extracted human teeth in laboratory-based mechanical and fatigue tests, according to a study published in Dental Materials.

The new material, an elliptical frustum of fibre-reinforced composite, was tested for mechanical strength, elastic modulus, indentation hardness and fatigue behaviour, and found to have similar elastic properties and fatigue performance to human dentine.

Predictable and reliable alternative for human-extracted teeth

Extracted human teeth have long been used in dental research to evaluate dental ceramic materials as a crown restoration on teeth. However, concerns about COVID-19, size-standardisation issues, and time constraints have made the collection and use of extracted human teeth increasingly difficult.

The new dentine analogue materials can serve as a replacement for human-extracted teeth, providing a predictable and reliable alternative.

The research team, led by Dr James Tsoi, Associate Professor in Dental Materials Science at HKU, along with colleagues from Wuhan University, China, and Drexel University, USA, fabricated the dentine analogue materials to mimic natural teeth in size and shape, and subjected them to fatigue loading.

The restorations showed comparable fatigue failure load and lifetime to those based on extracted human teeth, indicating that the new materials can be well used in lieu of human-extracted teeth.

The study evaluated the mechanical properties and fatigue behaviour of dentine analogue materials experimentally, analytically and numerically. The team hopes that the development of this material can help researchers facing the problem of inadequate extracted human teeth and facilitate predictable laboratory research with the aid of dentine analogue materials.

The study was supported by the General Research Fund (GRF) and its preliminary results were presented at the Academy of Dental Materials Annual Meeting 2022.