Relation between incremental lines and tensile strength of coronal dentin.

In one aspect, this study examined the tensile strength of coronal dentin, as a function of the location of incremental lines, in two types of teeth: human molar versus bovine incisor. In another aspect, tensile strength in coronal dentin was examined with tensile loading in two different orientations to the incremental lines: parallel versus perpendicular. There were four experimental groups in this study: HPa, human molar dentin with tensile orientation parallel to the incremental lines; HPe, human molar dentin with tensile orientation perpendicular to the incremental lines; BPa, bovine incisor dentin with tensile orientation parallel to the incremental lines; BPe, bovine incisor dentin with tensile orientation perpendicular to the incremental lines. Tensile strengths of the parallel group (HPa and BPa) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the perpendicular group (HPe and BPe). Effect of structural anisotropy, contributed by the incremental lines, was thus confirmed in coronal dentin. However, there were no differences in anisotropy effect between the two tooth types.