Fraunhofer diffraction patterns of human enamel samples were photographed with a helium-neon laser beam (λ = 633 nm). The first-order diffraction angle was in reasonable agreement with a prediction based upon enamel prisms acting as a two-dimensional grating. These results support the hypothesis that enamel diffracts light because of the periodic structure of enamel prisms with interprismatic spaces, which act as slits.
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