Biomaterial Database

Piezoelectricity in cementum, dentine and bone. 1989

A A Marino, and B D Gross

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport 71130-3932.

Unlike the dental hard tissues, bone remodels when subjected to orthodontic forces. Bone is also piezoelectric (generates a surface electrical charge upon application of force). In dentine and cementum from sperm whale teeth (which gave samples of sufficient size), the existence and magnitude of piezoelectricity were examined and compared with human bone. Both dental tissues were found to be piezoelectric with coefficients of 0.027 and 0.028 pC/N, respectively; the coefficient of human bone was eight times greater (0.22 pC/N). Thus the strength of the piezoelectric effect was correlated with the known capacities of the tissues to undergo adaptive remodelling. This result is consistent with the theory that piezoelectricity mediates orthodontically induced alveolar remodelling.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011312	Pressure	A type of stress exerted uniformly in all directions. Its measure is the force exerted per unit area. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Pressures
D001842	Bone and Bones	A specialized CONNECTIVE TISSUE that is the main constituent of the SKELETON. The principal cellular component of bone is comprised of OSTEOBLASTS; OSTEOCYTES; and OSTEOCLASTS, while FIBRILLAR COLLAGENS and hydroxyapatite crystals form the BONE MATRIX.	Bone Tissue,Bone and Bone,Bone,Bones,Bones and Bone,Bones and Bone Tissue,Bony Apophyses,Bony Apophysis,Condyle,Apophyses, Bony,Apophysis, Bony,Bone Tissues,Condyles,Tissue, Bone,Tissues, Bone
D003739	Dental Cementum	The bonelike rigid connective tissue covering the root of a tooth from the cementoenamel junction to the apex and lining the apex of the root canal, also assisting in tooth support by serving as attachment structures for the periodontal ligament. (Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992)	Cementoblasts,Cementum,Cementoblast,Cementum, Dental
D003799	Dental Stress Analysis	The description and measurement of the various factors that produce physical stress upon dental restorations, prostheses, or appliances, materials associated with them, or the natural oral structures.	Analyses, Dental Stress,Analysis, Dental Stress,Stress Analyses, Dental,Stress Analysis, Dental,Dental Stress Analyses
D003804	Dentin	The hard portion of the tooth surrounding the pulp, covered by enamel on the crown and cementum on the root, which is harder and denser than bone but softer than enamel, and is thus readily abraded when left unprotected. (From Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992)	Dentine,Dentines,Dentins
D004594	Electrophysiology	The study of the generation and behavior of electrical charges in living organisms particularly the nervous system and the effects of electricity on living organisms.
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013977	Tibia	The second longest bone of the skeleton. It is located on the medial side of the lower leg, articulating with the FIBULA laterally, the TALUS distally, and the FEMUR proximally.	Tibias
D014907	Whales	Large marine mammals of the order CETACEA. In the past, they were commercially valued for whale oil, for their flesh as human food and in ANIMAL FEED and FERTILIZERS, and for baleen. Today, there is a moratorium on most commercial whaling, as all species are either listed as endangered or threatened.	Beaked Whales,Berardius,Caperea,Dwarf Sperm Whale,Giant Bottle-Nosed Whales,Goose-Beaked Whale,Gray Whale,Mesoplodon,Narwhals,Pygmy Right Whale,Pygmy Sperm Whale,Right Whale, North Atlantic,Right Whale, Southern,Ziphiidae,Ziphius,Eschrichtius robustus,Eubalaena australis,Grey Whale,Monodon monoceros,North Atlantic Right Whale,Beaked Whale,Bottle-Nosed Whale, Giant,Bottle-Nosed Whales, Giant,Dwarf Sperm Whales,Giant Bottle Nosed Whales,Giant Bottle-Nosed Whale,Goose Beaked Whale,Goose-Beaked Whales,Gray Whales,Grey Whales,Narwhal,Pygmy Right Whales,Pygmy Sperm Whales,Right Whale, Pygmy,Right Whales, Pygmy,Right Whales, Southern,Southern Right Whale,Southern Right Whales,Sperm Whale, Dwarf,Sperm Whale, Pygmy,Sperm Whales, Dwarf,Sperm Whales, Pygmy,Whale,Whale, Grey,Whale, Southern Right,Whales, Grey,Whales, Southern Right