Method: 20 groups (n = 10) were obtained: HEPa (human enamel with parallel prisms); HEPp (human enamel perpendicular); HCDPa (human crown dentin with parallel tubules ); HCDPp (human crown dentin perpendicular); HRDPa (human root dentin parallel ) HRDPp (human root dentin perpendicular). Analogous bovine specimens were obtained: BEPa; BEPp; BCDPa; BCDPp; BRDPa; BRDPp. The specimens were submitted to micro tensile test and the mean failure loads (MPa) submitted to ANOVA and Tukey test (p < 0.5).
Result: Within the specie, the results indicated significant difference among the structures with lower values for human perpendicular enamel (5.88) and higher values for bovine perpendicular root dentin (100.55). There was significant difference (p<.05) regarding tubules orientation only for bovine perpendicular root dentin (100.55) in comparison to bovine parallel root dentin (35.85). Between the species, statistically significant difference was observed only between bovine (100.55) and human (54.77) perpendicular root dentin.
Conclusion: The results indicated that bovine teeth can substitute human teeth in laboratorial tests but the significantly higher tensile strength of the bovine root dentin in comparison to the human root dentin should be carefully interpreted.