Physical properties and chemical composition are fundamentally defining and interconnected surface characteristics. However, few techniques are able to capture both in a correlative fashion at the same sample location and orientation. This is especially important for complex materials such as dentin, which is an inner tooth structure and is a heterogeneous, composite inorganic-organic material with open channels (tubules) that extend toward the tooth pulp. Here, a combined microscope system consisting of an atomic force microscope and a confocal Raman spectrometer was used to study the correlative physical and chemical properties of human dentin. The local hardness of dentin was highly correlated with the Raman signal ratio of inorganic to organic material, and this was enhanced in the peritubular regions of dentin. When the samples were etched with citric acid, Young's modulus, hardness, and inorganic-to-organic material ratio decreased significantly, collagen fibrils on the surface were exposed, the peritubular regions were removed, and the tubule diameters increased. Thus, the combined atomic force microscopy (AFM)-Raman approach allows for comprehensive and correlative physical-chemical analysis of material surfaces and will be invaluable for evaluating oral therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Raman spectroscopy; atomic force microscopy; correlative microscopy; dental hard tissue.

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