The role of regenerative periodontal therapy is the reconstitution of lost periodontal structures, ie, new formation of root cementum, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone. The outcome of basic research has pointed to the important role of enamel matrix protein derivative (EMD) in periodontal wound healing. Histologic results from animal and human studies have shown that treatment with EMD p...

Environment parameters, diet and genetic factors interact to shape tooth morphostructure. In the human lineage, archaic and modern hominins show differences in dental traits, including enamel thickness, but variability also exists among living populations. Several polymorphisms, in particular in the non-collagenous extracellular matrix proteins of the tooth hard tissues, like enamelin, are invo...

Tooth primordia at early stages of mineralization in the sharks Negaprion brevirostris and Triaenodon obesus were examined electron microscopically for evidence of ameloblastic secretion and its relation to calcification of the enamel (enameloid) layer. Ameloblasts are polarized with most of the mitochondria and all of the Golgi dictyosomes localized in the infranuclear end of the cell toward t...

In the field of dentistry, the murine incisor has long been considered as an outstanding model to study amelogenesis. However, it clearly appears that enamel from wild type mouse incisors and molars presents several structural differences. In incisor, exclusively radial enamel is observed. In molars, enamel displays a high level of complexity since the inner part is lamellar whereas the outer e...

Our objectives in this study were to perform separate proteomic analyses of porcine soft and hard enamel matrices, using the ProteomeLab PF-2D System, to compare the contents of the hard and soft enamel and to identify matrix constituents that are absent from the early maturation stage. Developing first permanent molars were dissected from 6-month-old pigs. Both immature and mature enamel sampl...

This review focuses on recent discoveries and delves in detail about what is known about each of the proteins (amelogenin, ameloblastin, and enamelin) and proteinases (matrix metalloproteinase-20 and kallikrein-related peptidase-4) that are secreted into the enamel matrix. After an overview of enamel development, this review focuses on these enamel proteins by describing their nomenclature, tis...

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) remains a poorly understood group of hereditary enamel defects characterized by a wide array of clinical presentations. Although numerous reports have described the histological features of AI, knowledge concerning the biochemical composition of the affected enamel remains minimal. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the protein of smooth hypoplastic AI...