2021-04-122020-01-010003996918791506WOS;000523652700006PUBMED;31568993SCOPUS;2-s2.0-85072634516http://hdl.handle.net/10784/29124Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to establish microstructure, microhardness, fracture toughness, chemical composition, and crack repair of bovine enamel and to compare these features with their human counterparts. Design: Bovine enamel fragments were prepared and optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to establish microstructure; Raman spectroscopy was used to estimate composition and microindentation using Vickers testing was performed to evaluate hardness. Results: A strong dependence between indentation load and microhardness values was observed, as was the case in human enamel. Similar microstructure and chemical composition between bovine and human enamel, 7.89% lower microhardness and 40% higher fracture toughness values for bovine enamel were found. Conclusion: From a structural and mechanical standpoint, bovine enamel is a suitable alternative to human enamel for in vitro testing of dental products. © 2019 Elsevier Ltdenghttps://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/0003-9969Bovine enamelChemical compositionCrack repairFracture toughnessHardnessRaman spectroscopyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article2021-04-12Arango-Santander S.Montoya C.Pelaez-Vargas A.Ossa E.A.10.1016/j.archoralbio.2019.104573