The Life and Times of the Tooth

Deciphering medical terms open ups a whole realm of possibilities. Oral histology tooth development sounds like some exotic disease picked up while traveling globally. Histology means the study of the structure of tissue that the eye cannot see. What you see under a microscope or a good magnifying glass meets the definition of histology. 

Tooth Development  

Oral histology tooth development has been a global concern for some time. Teeth start in an embryo as a tissue. It takes consistent good nutrition in the right proportions for some minerals such as calcium or magnesium for teeth to develop fully. The bright shiny white portion of your choppers start as epithelial cells like your skin. Just below the outer layer of enamel lies the soft dentine.

Dentine begins as mesenchymal tissue which makes connective tissue, cartilage, or bone. In this case in teeth, it makes dentine a hard-calcareous tissue harder than bone. At six weeks, a fetus begins to form a horseshoe ridge in the area of the future jaw.

Then four swellings appear on the ridge. The swellings develop a set of enamel organs which after birth and by genetics become the future teeth.  

Enamel  

At first teeth have no enamel under the gums. Instead, ameloblasts wait for the signal to begin laying down strips of enamel on the tooth bud much like a house painter does with a spray gun. Except it does so in hexagonal enamel crystallites fitting tightly together along with other cell shapes known as rod enamel prisms. Before this well-known enamel part seen the dentine has been matured to offer the support the enamel will need for the life of the tooth.  

Other Parts of the Tooth  

Dentine has odontoblasts that make the path for other cells to function in the tooth by its processes. Dentine has tubular passages and surrounds the pulp cavity. Odontoblasts work here as well to make the living connective tissue. Much softer and having the nerves plus blood vessels of the tooth it maintains and feeds the upper layers. As a person becomes older, the pulp chamber becomes much smaller due to all the deposits of dentine.

Below the pulp lies the cells that will form the tooth root. Known as cementum, it forms the root layers. As the roots grow on a tooth so grows the enamel causing the tooth to eventually erupt through the gums. The tissue in the tooth root has connections and relationships to the tissues in the jaw bone.  

Conclusion  

Though much information exists about taking care of the enamel of teeth such as brushing, and flossing all those measures exist to prevent cavities entering the pulp area. As oral histology of tooth development shows the real health of the tooth starts in the body and the root.

Maintaining healthy teeth starts with nutrition and how the body processes food. Calcium and magnesium have special meaning to teeth. So, after brushing have some calcium filled ice cream and make the root happy in moderation.