MORPHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF DENTIN
Main Morphological unit of Dentin is Dentinal Tubule and Structural Unit is Apatite Crystal (Hydroxyapatite)
Morphology of Dentin
Composition of Dentin:
- Organic Substance:
- 25-30% from its weight
- About 90% collagen fibres
- About 10% ground substance
- Inorganic Substance:
- 70-75% from its weight
- Hydroxyapatite crystallites
Dentinal Tubules
- Dentinal Tubules are formed around the odontoblastic process during Dentinogenesis
- Odontoblastic outgrowth is located inside the canal
- Dentin around the tubule is the most mineralized and is called peritubular
- Dentin inbetween the tubule is called intertubular
- Dentin starts from the pulp, intersect all the dentin and reaches the dentin-enamel border
- Above the dental pulp, it is broader and more closely spaced. In the incisor edges and tip of cusps, are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tooth
- In lateral regions of crown they are oblique
- Dentinal tubules have an S-shaped curves similar to enamel prisms which gives greater strength to structures
Odontoblastic Processes
- It is a Protoplasmic Extension of Odontoblasts
- Odontoblasts remain involved in periphery of the pulp.
- Inside of the odontoblastic process is included microtubules, microfilaments, macrovesicles which all help to prepare for protein synthesis
Peritubular Dentin
- Dentin at the Periphery of each dentinal tubule is called peritubular
- Peritubular is absent in the predentin because predentin is still dentinal matrix without mineralization
- Tubular walls are still not formed but peritubular dentin is most mineralized form of dentin
- When carious lesions or abrasion develops, as a defence mechanism, intertubular dentin can fill the entire lumen of tubule and this dentin layer is called transport or sclerotic dentin
Intertubular Dentin
- Largest mass of dentin is located between the canals
- It is relatively less mineralized than peritubular dentin. Collagen fibrils of organic matrix form a network, over which are situated perpendicular oriented apatite crystals
Layers in Dentin
- 1. Mantle Dentin
- 2. Interglobular Dentin
- 3. Circumpulpal Dentin
- 4. Predentin
- 1. Mantle Dentin just below the dentinoenamel junction forms from preexisting ground substance of dental papilla
- Most superficial and most highly mineralised layer of dentin. Mineralization close to that of enamel
- Due to the predominance of Korff’s fibres which are arranged in parallel
- Helps in the tight arrangement of crystals with the smallest inter crystal spaces
- Organic Matter is in its least amount here
- 2. Interglobular Dentin
Used to describe areas of hypo-mineralized dentin where globular zones of mineralization (calcospherites) have failed to fuse into homogenous mass within mature dentin