ENAMEL

Learning Outcomes

• Physical characteristics of enamel

• Composition of enamel in percentage
• Explain structural features seen in enamel seen under light microscope or
ultrastructurally.
 Hardest calcified tissue covering the anatomical crown
 Provides protection to the tooth crown
 Ectodermal in origin
 It is avascular, aneural
• Acellular and without regenerative powers
• Remineralization of enamel can occur up to a certain extent
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

COLOR

PERMEABILITY THICKNESS

BRITTLENESS HARDNESS
COLOR:
The color of the enamel-covered crown ranges from yellowish white to grayish white.
It has been suggested that the color is determined by differences in the translucency of
enamel.
Yellowish teeth having a thin, translucent enamel through which the yellow color of the
dentin is visible.
Grayish teeth having a more opaque enamel.
Grayish teeth frequently show a slightly yellowish color at the cervical areas.
The translucency may be attributable to variations in the degree of calcification and
homogeneity of the enamel.
Incisal areas may have a bluish tinge where the thin edge consists only of a double
layer of enamel.
COLOR
THICKNESS:
• Enamel forms a protective covering of variable thickness over the entire surface of
the crown
• The enamel was found to be thicker in the lingual surfaces of maxillary molars and in
the buccal surfaces of mandibular molars.
• Thickness varies from 2.5 mm in cusp and incisal edge of permanent teeth and 1.3 mm
in case of primary teeth to knife edge at the cervical margin

• PERMEABILITY:
• Selectively permeability
HARDNESS:
• Enamel is the hardest calcified tissue in the human body.
• Highly mineralized tissue of human body
• Surface enamel is harder, denser and less porous than subsurface
enamel
BRITTLENESS:
• The structure and hardness of the enamel render it brittle, which is particularly
apparent when the enamel loses its foundation of sound dentin.
• Unsupported enamel fractures AS it needs soft resilient dentin underneath
Modulus of Elasticity:
• At the surface the modulus of elasticity is higher and the
hardness is more than on dentinoenamel junction.
Specific Gravity (Relative Density):
• The specific gravity of enamel is 2.8.
• The density decreases from the surface to the deeper regions and from
cuspal to incisal region.

Non-Conductor:
Enamel has always been observed as a non electrical conductive material. It is in fact
an insulator at room temperature.
• Temperature resistance of enamel is in the frequency range from 5 to
13 Hz.
• Electrical resistance ranges from 1015 to 105 ohms.
 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
Composition

Inorganic Organic+ water

96% 4%
Hydroxy apatite crystals of Calcium phosphate Ca10(PO4)6 Enamel proteins
(OH)2 -Amelogenins
Phosphate ions are substituted with impurities carbonate ions
May also be present -Non-amelogenin
--Strontium
-Magnesium
-Lead
-Flouride
 Histological Structure of ENAMEL
Enamel is formed of:

• Enamel crystallites
• Enamel Rod
• Interrod Substance
• Rod Sheath
Enamel Crystallites / Hydroxy apatite crystals

• Closely packed long ribbon-like crystals.

• 60-70 nm wide and 25-30 nm thick.
• Length is variable usually very Long.
• Hexagonal in cross section generally. May be distorted due to crowding
• Crystals are grouped together to form rods and inter rods
Enamel Rods or Prisms
• Fundamental Organizational unit of Enamel are enamel Rods (prisms) and
Inter rods (interprismatic substance)
• Rods shaped like a cylinder
• 5-12 million rods per crown
• Rods extend from their site of origin (dentinoenamel junction) to outer surface
of enamel
• They are perpendicular to dentinoenamel junction
• Each rod is 4-8 μm in diameter and upto 2.5 mm in length
• Each rod is packed with millions of hydroxyapatite crystals
Head of each rod is made up of 1 ameloblast and 3 ameloblast
form the tail of rod
Direction of Enamel rods

• No. of Rods at DEJ = No. of Rods at external surface

• Surface area of enamel > DEJ
• Rods diameter at DEJ: Rods diameter at External surface
(1:2)
• From the dentinoenamel junction the rods run
somewhat tortuous courses outward to the surface of
the tooth.
• The length of most rods is greater than the thickness
of the enamel.
• The rods located in the cusps are longer than those at
the cervical areas of the teeth.
• Generally the rods are oriented at right angles to the dentin surface.
• DECIDUOUS TEETH
• In the cervical and central parts of the crown of a deciduous tooth they are
approximately horizontal.
• Near the incisal edge or tip of the cusps they change gradually to an increasingly
oblique direction until they are almost vertical in the region of the edge or tip of the
cusps.
PERMANENT TEETH

• The arrangement of the rods in permanent teeth is similar in the

occlusal two thirds of the crown.
• In the cervical region, however, the rods deviate from the horizontal in an apical
direction.
COURSE OF RODS
• The rods are rarely, if ever, straight throughout.
• They follow a wavy course from the dentin enamel surface.
If the middle part of the crown is divided into thin horizontal disks, the rods in
the adjacent disks bend in opposite directions.
• If the disks are cut in an oblique plane, especially near the dentin in the region
of the cusps or incisal edges;
 the bundles of rods seem to intertwine more irregularly
 this optical appearance of enamel is called gnarled enamel
Prism or Rod patterns seen in human enamel

• Keyhole or paddle shaped Pattern

• Staggered Pattern
• Stacked Pattern
• Irregular Pattern
Key hole or fish scale pattern has largely being discontinued.
The basic organizational pattern of mammalian enamel thus
is described more appropriately as cylindrical rods
embedded in the interrod enamel.
• The increase in the area of enamel at the surface
compared to their area at the DE junction :
 Is not due to increase in the number of prisms But due to:
 increased prism diameter near the tooth surface
 the oblique orientation of prisms towards the surface
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

• This arrangement gives strength to the enamel

• Their direction has importance in cavity preparation for restorations

• Fracturing of unsupported rods in poorly designed restorative preparations

causes loss of enamel around the margins of the filling material resulting in the
marginal leakage and makes the tooth more susceptible to dental caries

• Inclination of rods is different in primary and permanent teeth so this should be

considered during cavity preparation
Rod sheath
• Between rod and interrod enamel, rod sheath is present which
is composed of organic material.
• The rod sheath is visualized more clearly in maturing enamels
in higher mammals
Incremental lines
 Enamel is formed incrementally at a rate of 4μm/day
 Periods of activity alternating with period of resting

Types:

 1- Short period incremental lines

 Cross striations

 2- Long period incremental lines

 Striae of Retzius
Significance of Rod Structure

Because of interwoven network of rods, teeth can resist

masticatory forces of 20-30 pounds per tooth.
• Thin enamel at cervical areas least masticatory impact
• Thickest enamel at cusp tips greatest masticatory impact
Cross Striations
 Lines traversing the enamel rods at right angle to their long axis
 Appear as 2.5-6 μm apart (4 μm)
 Reflect daily rate of secretion by ameloblasts.

SEM: periodic varicosities and depressions are seen along the enamel rods
Striae of Retzius
 Weekly rhythm in enamel production resulting in a
structural alteration of the rod

 Appear as brownish lines in ground sections

 Extend from DEJ towards the tooth surface in oblique

direction

• 25-35 μm apart (7 cross striation)

• Appear as brownish bands in ground sections of the enamel
• Show the incremental pattern of the enamel
• In longitudinal section, surround the tip of the dentin
 In the cervical parts of the crown they run obliquely
 From the dentinoenamel junction to the surface they deviate occlusally
 About 25–30 striae do not reach the surface
• So, the change in the direction of rods is responsible for the appearance of the Hunter–
Schreger bands.
• are alternating dark and light strips of varying widths
• originate at the dentinoenamel border and pass outward, ending at some distance from
the outer enamel surface.
• The prisms which are cut longitudinally to produce the dark bands are called
parazones.
• The prisms which are cut transversely to produce the light bands are called diazones.
• The angle between the parazones and the diazones is about 40 degrees.
• So opinion about Hunter-Schreger band:
• Variations in calcification of the enamel
• Alternate zones having a slightly different permeability
and a different content of organic material
• In transverse sections of a tooth, they appear as concentric circles.
 They may be compared to the growth rings in the cross- section of a tree.
• The exact nature is not known
The incremental lines have been attributed;
 to periodic bending of the enamel rods
 to variations in the basic organic structure
 to a physiologic calcification rhythm
• The mean daily rate of enamel formation is 3.5 microns
• The evenly spaced striae represent a 6–11 day rhythm in enamel formation
Appearance:
 Concentric rings (Cross section)
 Series of dark lines (Longitudinal section)

Longitudinal section
Accentuated lines of Retzius
 Systemic disturbances (e.g. fevers)

 Metabolic disturbances

 Stress

 Neonatal lines
 SURFACE STRUCTURES
• Aprismatic (Prismless) Enamel
• Perikymata
• Enamel Rod ends
• Enamel Pits
• Enamel Caps
• Enamel Brochs
• Enamel Cracks (Lamellae)
• Neonatal Line (Neonatal Ring)
 Aprismatic (Prismless) Enamel

• A relatively structureless layer of enamel

• Approximately 30 μm thick
• Described in 70% of permanent teeth and all deciduous teeth
• Found least often over the cusp tips and most commonly
toward the cervical areas of the enamel surface
• All of the apatite crystals are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the
striae of Retzius
• More heavily mineralized than the bulk of enamel beneath it
Neonatal line
 Accentuated line of Retzius
 Landmark between prenatal and post natal enamel
 Present on all Deciduous teeth and 1st permanent molar

 Etiology:
 Abrupt changes in environment, nutrition and stress
occurring at birth
 Prenatal enamel better developed than postnatal enamel
Perikymata

• Transverse, wavelike grooves on external surface

• External manifestations of lines of Retzius
• Parallel to each other and to CEJ
• 30 perikymata per mm close to CEJ
10 perikymata per mm occlusal/incisal edge
• Course fairly regular
• May be irregular in cervical region
• 15-20 μm apart cervically
• Up to 100 μm apart occlusally
• Also known as Imbrication lines of pickerill
• May give indication about time taken for teeth to
develop and erupt (studies on evolution, apes and
Bands of Hunter and Schreger
• Optical phenomenon
• Alternating light and dark bands seen most clearly in
longitudinal ground sections viewed by reflected
light and are found in the inner two thirds of the
enamel.
• Start at DEJ and end before reaching enamel surface
• 50 μm apart
Bands of Hunter and Schreger
• Rods follow a parallel sinusoidal path
• 10-13 layers of rods follow the same direction.
Adjacent groups have different directions.
• Periodic change in prism direction causes a
banding pattern
Enamel tuft
• Hypomineralized ribbon like areas arising
from DEJ
• Major organic component is tuftelin protein (non
amelogenin)
• Believed to occur developmentally because
of abrupt changes in the direction of
groups of rods that arise from different
regions of the scalloped dentinoenamel
junction.
• Present in inner 1/3rd of enamel mostly
• In ground section resemble tuft of grass
• Consist of hypocalcified enamel rods and interprismatic
substance
• SEM studies
 Revealed enamel tufts to be tubular structure with cross
striations
• TEM studies
 Showed plate-like structures in the center of the tufts
• In another study
 Needle-like crystals and granular or amorphous material was found partially
occluding the channels or the voids
 These studies concluded that the tufts were hypomineralized structures
• Travel in the same direction as enamel rods
• 100 μm apart mostly
Enamel Lamellae
• Thin leaf like hypomineralized structures
• extending from surface towards DEJ
• May extend to DEJ or penetrate it
• May be confused with cracks
• Organic material may derive from trapped
• enamel organ components or connective
tissue surrounding the developing tooth.
• If connective tissue invades then
cementum is formed inside
• May act as pathway for bacteria
• Types of Lamellae
 Type A: composed of poorly calcified rod segments
 Type B: consisting of degenerated cells
 Type C: filled with organic matter, presumably originating from saliva
• Lamellae can be observed better in horizontal sections
• Lamellae may develop in planes of tension
 Where rods cross such a plane, a short segment of the rod may not fully calcify
• If the disturbance is more severe, a crack may develop
 Unerupted tooth: filled by surrounding cells
 After eruption: filled by organic substances from the oral
cavity
Enamel Spindles
• Narrow, round or club shaped tubules
• arising from DEJ into enamel.
Represent the odontoblastic process
extended and trapped into the
enamel during its formation.
• Up to 8 μm wide
• May extend up to 25 μm into enamel
• Not aligned with the prisms
• Most common under cusps
• In ground sections of dried teeth
 The organic content of the spindles disintegrates and is replaced by air
 The spaces appear dark in transmitted light
• SEM studies
 Showed spindles to be channels containing small needle-like crystals or granular
and/ or amorphous material
 They are found mainly in the cusp tip regions
A: enamel tufts, B: Enamel spindles, C: dentinoenamel junction, D: dentin F: enamel
Dentino enamel junction

• The junction present between enamel and

dentin having a scalloped appearance is called
dentinoenamel junction.
• Seen both in transverse and longitudinal section
• Enamel spindles and enamel tufts can be seen
extending rom DEJ
Dentino enamel Junction
The ridging is most pronounced in coronal dentin,
where occlusal stresses are the greatest

Function:
Provides a secured attachment between two
different mineralized surfaces
The shape and nature of the junction prevent
shearing of the enamel during function.
Gnarled Enamel
• Groups of rods twisted around each
other under the cusps or incisal edges
• Spiral path of prism is more marked
and irregular
Surface of enamel:

1. Perikymata
2. Lamellae or cracks
3. Salivary pellicle
4. Pits
5. Enamel caps
6. Focal holes
7. brochs
• Pits:
1-1.5 um in diameter represent ends of
enamel rods
• Enamel Caps:
10-15 um in diameter due to enamel
deposition on non mineralizable debris
Focal holes:
Focal holes are formed when the caps
are lost (attrition, abrasion)
Enamel brochs:
Larger elevations 30-50 um
Radiating groups of crystals
More common in premolars
Unknown origin
Salivary pellicle

Organic deposit on the surface of teeth, always reappears shortly after

teeth have been polished mechanically (eg after brushing or polishing).

• Dental plaque forms readily on the pellicle. Plaque may be calcified to

form calculus
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIMARY AND PERMANENT TOOTH ENAMEL