Enamel Lamellae and their Origin

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The concept is advanced that enamel lamellae are not organized structures but cracks in enamel filled with a tissue fluid. This fluid, the "dental lymph" originates from the odontoblasts and may be related to the specific function of post-eruptive calcification of the dentin and enamel. Evidence is advanced that the dentinal fiber is a tube-like process originally shown by author in photomicrographs in 1922 and now confirmed by electron micrographs. These processes serve in the transportation of the "dental lymph." The contents of the lamellae are presumed to be fluid during life, and coagulated into a sheet-like structure only after fixation of the tooth in prepn. for microscopic examination. As enamel lamellae are the most common focus of dental caries, permitting the ready entrance of the tooth destructive factors, reduction of this most prevalent type of lesion may be possible by reducing the permeability of enamel lamellae.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: