INTRODUCTION Dental enamel is comprised of highly organized, oriented apatite crystals, but how they form is unclear. METHODS We used focused ion beam (FIB) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate early enamel formation in 7-week-old incisors from wild-type, Amelx-/-, and Enam-/- C56BL/6 mice. FIB surface imaging scans thicker samples so that the thin enamel ribbons do not pass as r...

Enamel proteins form a scaffold for growing hydroxyapatite crystals during enamel formation. They are then almost completely degraded during enamel maturation, resulting in a protein content of only 1% (w/v) in mature enamel. Nevertheless, this small amount of remaining proteins has important effects on the mechanical and structural properties of enamel and on the electrostatic properties of it...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to test the impact of different toothpastes with Zinc-Hydroxyapatite (Zn-HAP) on preventing and repairing enamel erosion compared to toothpastes with and without fluoride. MATERIAL AND METHODS The following four toothpastes were tested: two toothpastes with Zn-HAP, one toothpaste with fluoride and one toothpaste without fluoride. An additional contr...

Techniques previously utilized for chemical analysis of enamel surfaces are generally unsuitable for in-vivo testing. This study explored the utility of internal reflection spectroscopy (IRS) as a non-destructive method for enamel-surface analysis. Powders (enamel plus reference inorganic materials) and solids (flattened and unaltered enamel slabs) were analysed by IRS. Most samples were mounte...

Several primate radiations exhibit dental adaptations that enable them to gain access to seeds embedded in well-protected fruit. To a database drawn from published sources in which hardness of fruit and seeds were tested in the field, we added an additional 100+ species of plants used as resources by pitheciin primates (specifically, South American white-faced sakis (Pithecia pithecia) and bear...

Translucency of human dental enamel was determined by total transmittance of wavelengths from 400 to 700 nm. The transmission coefficient at 525 nm was 0.481 mm-1. Total transmission of light through human dental enamel increased with increasing wavelength. Human tooth enamel is more translucent at higher wavelengths. The translucency of wet human enamel and enamel after dehydration was also me...

The extracellular tooth enamel matrix is a unique, protein-rich environment that provides the structural basis for the growth of long and parallel oriented enamel crystals. Here we have conducted a series of in vivo and in vitro studies to characterize the changes in matrix shape and organization that take place during the transition from ameloblast intravesicular matrices to extracellular subu...

Teeth from Megalobatrachus japonicus were prepared for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron microprobe analyzer (EMPA) to assay the elements of the enamel layer. The enamel layer of each of tooth is thin and the arrangement of the enamel crystals is regular in the Megalobatrachus japonicus. Based on calcium, phosphate and magnesium levels of distribution, the calcification level of t...

The aim of this study was to determine whether there was any difference in the degree of enamel loss at bond-up, debond and enamel clean-up when two different adhesive systems were tested and with four different methods of enamel clean-up. The adhesive systems were 37 per cent o-phosphoric acid with Transbond XT (group 1) and 10 per cent poly(acrylic acid) conditioner with Fuji Ortho LC (group ...

Afropithecus turkanensis, a 17-17.5 million year old large-bodied hominoid from Kenya, has previously been reported to be the oldest known thick-enamelled Miocene ape. Most investigations of enamel thickness in Miocene apes have been limited to opportunistic or destructive studies of small samples. Recently, more comprehensive studies of enamel thickness and microstructure in Proconsul, Lufengp...