Fracture toughness of human enamel.

A microindentation technique was employed to estimate the fracture toughness of human enamel. A pattern of increasing fracture toughness values existed from incisal to cervical in incisor enamel. Statistical analysis indicated that the molar enamel was more brittle than either the canine or incisor enamel. It was observed that the cracks emanating from the corners of an indentation propagated preferentially, with the weakest path of fracture usually extending along the cervical-incisal axis.