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- Enamel is the most highly mineralized ectodermal tissue in the body that covers the
anatomical crown.
-It forms a protective covering to resist the masticatory forces.
-It is an acellular, non-vital and insensitive tissue that cannot be replaced or
regenerated when injured.
*Physical properties:
Color:
- Ranges from yellowish white to greyish white depending on the degree of
translucency, calcification and homogeneity and thickness of the enamel.
-Yellowish teeth have thin translucent enamel through which the yellow color of
dentin is visible, while grayish teeth have more opaque enamel.
Thickness:
-On the cusps of human molars and premolars, the enamel shows a maximum
thickness of about 2 - 2.5mm thinning down to a knife-edge at the cervical line.
Hardness: - It is the hardest tissue in the body
-It is greatest at the surface and decreases gradually towards the amelodentinal junction
(ADJ).
-It is greater at the cusp and incisal ridge and decreases cervically.
-Enamel of permanent teeth is harder than that of the deciduous.
Brittleness:
-It is highly brittle especially when it loses its underlying dentin.
Permeability:
-It acts as a semi-permeable membrane that permits complete or partial passage of
certain ions and dyestuff from saliva to the outer layer of enamel.
-However it has a lesser degree of permeability from the pulp to the inner enamel layer
across the dentin.
*Chemical properties:
By weight: By volume :1
Inorganic material
Organic material:
- Crystalline calcium phosphate known as -It is present mainly in the prism
hydroxy apatite crystals,
sheath.
3Ca3 (P04)2. Ca (OH)2
-It forms a fine framework
- Fluoride ions can replace the hydroxyl group surrounding the crystals.
thus the hydroxy apatite are transformed to - It consists mainly of proteins in
fluoroapatite which are more caries resistant.
addition, traces of carbohydrates
( So addition of fluorine to the drinking water and lipids are found.
or the topical application of fluorides on the
surfaces of the teeth minimize the caries)
- The inorganic material is represented by the
rods and inter-rod regions.
- Minerals content increase from DEJ to the
surface.
-Under the cusp tips and incisal ridges, the course of the enamel rods is more
complicated where they become twisted over each other to give maximum strength at
these areas, which are more, subjected to the masticatory forces (Gnarled enamel).
4-Diameter:
-The diameter of the enamel rod increases from the dentino-enamel junction (DEJ) to
the outer enamel surface by a ratio of 1:2.
-Its diameter is about 4 microns (at the DEJ) and its length is about 2.5 mm.
5-In transverse section:
-Enamel rods appear hexagonal, round, oval and fish scales.
6-By the electron microscope:
-The cross section in the enamel rod and interrod regions is similar to a keyhole.
-The heads of the key hole are directed occlusally while tails points cervically.
-The enamel prism (head) is made up of crystals with their long axes parallel to the
long axis of the prism at its central part.
-Crystals away from the central axis flare laterally to an increasing degree as they
approach the prism boundary.
-The crystals continue their lateral tilting until they become nearly perpendicular to the
prism in the interprismatic region (tail).
-They are alternating dark bands (diazones) and light bands (parazones) that start at the
A.D.J. and end shortly before reaching the outer surface of enamel.
-They are present at the middle and cervical thirds of the crown and absent in the
region of gnarled enamel (at the cusp tip).
- They are the result of the wavy course of the enamel rods which disappear at the
outer surface and at the region of gnarled enamel.
*Enamel lamellae
-Thin leaf like structures that extend from the enamel surface toward A.D.J. and may
extend into the dentin.
-There are three types of enamel lamellae.
1- Developmental lamellae type A (True enamel lamellae)
-They represent poorly calcified enamel prisms and interprismatic substance as a
result of mild stimulus.
-Lamellae type A are limited to the enamel.
2- Non developmental Enamel lamellae
a-Enamel lamellae type B
- A crack that occurs in teeth before eruption due to sever stimulus.
- It may extend into the dentin.
- It is filled with either:1- Cells of the enamel organ (REE),
or
2-Cells of the adjacent connective tissue (dental sac).
b-Enamel lamellae type C
-Crack that occurs in teeth after eruption due to sever stimulus.
-Filled with organic material from the saliva.
-It may extend into the dentin.
-Enamel lamellae could act as an important means of spread of dental caries.
*Enamel tufts
-They are hypocalcified enamel rods and inter rod substance.
-Resemble tufts of grass when examined in T.S. thick ground sections under low
magnification
-As the hypocalcified segments, lying in different planes and curving in different
directions so they appear as if they are projecting from a single point of the scalloped
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ADJ.
-They start from the ADJ to about 1/5-1/3 the thickness of enamel.
-They are more numerous than enamel lamellae.
*Enamel spindles
-They originate from the processes of odontoblasts that extended between the inner
enamel epithelium before dentin and enamel formation.
-In ground sections the organic content of the spindles disintegrates and replaced by
air, so they appear dark in transmitted light.
-Best demonstrated in longitudinal ground sections.
-Numerous under the cusp tip and incisal ridge.
- It is an uncalcified structure.
-They are shallowest at the cervical region and deepen near the occlusal surface and
incisal edges.
4- Cracks:
- They are fissure like structures seen on all enamel surfaces.
- They are the outer edges of enamel lamellae.
-They extend for varying distance.
5- Afibrillar cementum:
- It is type of cementum that covers the cervical area of enamel in about 60% of the
teeth
- It is secreted when the reduced enamel epithelium retracts from the cervical region
during tooth development.
-It happens due to separation of the reduced enamel epithelium from the crown surface
before eruption exposing the newly formed enamel to the dental sac cells resulting in
their differentiation into cementoblasts and lay cementum layer over enamel.
-This afibrillar cementum is sparsely distributed and consists of a well mineralized
ground substance that contains neither collagen fibers nor embedded cells.
6- Pellicle and dental plaque:
- As the tooth erupts, it is covered by a pellicle consisting of debris from the enamel
organ that is lost rapidly.
- Salivary pellicle is an organic deposit on the surface of teeth, always reappears
shortly after teeth have been polished.
- Dental plaque forms on the pellicle especially in more protected areas of dentition.
Attrition:
2-
Colour:
-Tooth color gradually darkens with age as a result of exposure to tobacco, coffee, and tea.
-It may be a result of the underlying dentin becoming thicker as well as reducing
tranclucency of the tooth as enamel becomes thinner.
3-
-With age there is a localized increase in certain elements such as nitrogen and fluorine. This
reduces the enamel porosity and susceptibility to caries.
4-
Permeability:
-With age, enamel becomes less permeable to fluids, less soluble to acid, and contains less
water.
6- Protective stage:
-After complete formation and mineralization of enamel, cells of the enamel organ
cannot be differentiated from one another.
-They form 3-4 layers of stratified epithelium that cover the enamel and called reduced
enamel epithelium.
- It is separated from the enamel surface by the 1ry enamel cuticle (basal lamina like
structure) which is the last product of the ameloblast
-This reduced enamel epithelium protects the enamel by separating it from the
connective tissue until the tooth erupts.
-If the reduced enamel epithelium undergoes degeneration in a localized area, enamel
will be exposed to the surrounding connective tissue which may cause enamel
resorption or cementum deposition on the bare enamel area.
Amelogenesis
{ Amelo = Enamel & genesis = formation }
-In amelogenesis there is no clear cut band of organic matrix such as predentin in
dentin, but it seems that both organic and inorganic{apatite crystals} are secreted
together from the ameloblasts as enamel matrix.
Amelogenesis occurs in two stages:
II - Maturation stage:
1Primary maturation:
- The first secreted enamel matrix contains20-30 % of the mineral content of mature
enamel.
2-
Secondary maturation :
3-
Tertiary maturation:
- After tooth eruption, precipitation of certain ions on the outermost enamel layer occurs
from saliva.
- This process may increase the mineral content of enamel and so increasing its hardness.
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