Material property maps (redrawn from [50]). (a) Shows the domains of common types of solids compared to dentine and enamel. Enamel is more like a ceramic in its properties than dentine. Maps (b)–(d) show the effect of different loading regimes on the behaviour of these dental tissues. Under tension (b), enamel is very likely to break in a brittle manner. Under static indentation (c), the highly compressive stresses during pit formation produce a more plastic response, but sliding (d) enhances tension greatly. It can be concluded that enamel is more likely to lose material via a scratch than a pit.
