FOR 2804:  The Materials Science of Teeth in Function: Principles of Durable, Dynamic Dental Interphases

• Subject Area: Materials Science and Engineering ; Medicine
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 396127899

When the clinical need arises, teeth are restored with non-resorbable biomaterials. This usually means that man-made dental materials need to operate for many years under harsh, cyclic loading conditions in the mouth. Initially, the dental surgeon removes pathologic/fractured tissue (e.g. caries) before placing fillings or crowns. To retain the restorations in place, intimate contacts must become established between the restorations and the remaining healthy tooth tissues. Good contact is achieved through formation of ‘interzones’, 3D sheet-like structures comprising intermediate layers with distinct micro-morphologies, compositions and properties. Despite a large range of polymer, ceramic and metal compounds, interzones in artificially constructed tooth restorations are never as good as their natural counterparts that are usually made of simple light organic and mineral components. The reasons for this discrepancy are poorly understood. FOR2804 members posit that there is a lack of knowledge regarding important materials contributions to 'durable' interzones. As a result, dentists often overdesign or underutilize defect-tolerant materials. We propose that a deeper understanding of where and how interzone failure starts, and high resolution analysis of the underlying microstructures can pave the way to designing more durable interzones. Here we propose a research unit "InterDent" that will serve as a platform where materials scientists, engineers and dental clinicians intimately interact within six complementary projects. By transfer of know-how and data between interdisciplinary researchers, we will identify key parameters needed to predict degradation which we hope to feed back into the clinic. The unique cross-disciplinary setting of InterDent combining advanced material science laboratories with dental clinicians within six independent but coordinated projects is the ideal fertile soil for an inspiring cooperation leading to novel observations in the fields of InterDent. A major objective of the coordination project is to establish a culture of collaboration between the disciplines for the benefit of a better understanding of interzone phenomena and ultimately better dental treatment.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• International Connection: Israel, Jordan, Netherlands

Projects

• Addressing initial composite debonding in root canals: interactions between shrinkage, ageing and residual strains (Applicants Bitter, Kerstin ;  Fleck, Claudia )
• Computational 3D analysis of the root-filling sealer interzone – relationship between irregularities and root canal morphology (Applicants Bitter, Kerstin ;  Zachow, Stefan ;  Zaslansky, Paul )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Zaslansky, Paul )
• Coordination Funds (Applicant Zaslansky, Paul )
• Material aging abutting restorations: predicting dentine sclerosis (Applicants Mantouvalou, Ioanna ;  Zaslansky, Paul )
• Programmed orthodontic debonding – Understanding the dynamics of the bracket-enamel interzone (Applicant Koch, Petra Julia )
• Structure and damage resistance on the nano- and microscale of the cemento-dentine-junction (Applicants Fleck, Claudia ;  Paris, Sebastian )
• The tooth-dental calculus interzone as a bioinspiration for adhesion (Applicants Bidan, Cécile ;  Paris, Sebastian )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Paul Zaslansky