Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, December 2007

Artificial teeth and crowns made of ceramic material are doomed to fail – usually within six to 10 years – but that may change because of a technique that borrows from nature. A group led by Claus Daniel of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Materials Science and Technology Division has discovered that a high-speed periodic laser treatment of dental grade ceramics alters the surface structure. "Nowadays, cracks begin at the interface between ceramic and remaining tooth or metallic anchor and grow to create a fatal crack and failure of the tooth," Claus said. "We need to inhibit those cracks from be initiated." The proprietary technique being developed...

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