This paper reports on the mechanical behavior of high-strength dental ceramics, lithium disilicate glass ceramics (LDGC) using nanoindentation and in situ scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The nanoindentation hardness and Young's moduli of LDGC were measured as a function of the applied indentation load. The indentation load/size effect (ISE) was analyzed for both measured nanoindentation hardness and Young's moduli. The true hardness, i.e., the load-independent hardness, was determined based on the proportional specimen resistance (PSR) model. Nanoindentation-induced plasticity in LDGC was characterized by in situ SPM imaging of the indented volumes and by measuring pile-up heights of indented cross-sections. The results show that both nanoindentation hardness and Young's modulus are load-dependent following the expended Meyer's law using a power series. At the nanoindentation loads, indented LDGC can be mainly plastically deformed by limiting cracking events. This unusual behavior, for nominally brittle materials, influences the mode of contact damage in applications such as machining, polishing, wear, impact damage and hardness testing for dental restorations. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.