Changes in the nature and composition of enamel mineral during porcine amelogenesis

The present study was undertaken to investigate changes in the crystalline structure and composition of procine enamel mineral during amelogenesis. Special attention was given to the carbonate location in the forming apatite crystal. Enamel samples were obtained from the outer (young) secretory, inner (old) secretory, maturation, and mature (hard) enamel of the permanent incisors of slaughtered piglets. The crystalline structure and composition of these enamel samples were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and chemical analyses. The initial enamel mineral in the outer secretory enamel was rich in acid phosphate and carbonate. The carbonate was mainly substituted for phosphate groups in the apatite crystals of the early (outer) secretory enamel. Developmental advancement from the outer secretory to the inner secretory (as well as early maturation) stages brought about significant changes in crystal parameters, namely, shrinkage and expansion of the c and a unit cell dimensions, respectively, and the shift of a v3 PO4 band to higher wavenumbers in the FTIR spectrum. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that mineralization during the tissue maturation was characterized by a gradual growth of enamel crystals parallel to the a-axis direction. A most prominent finding was that, with developmental advancement, a decrease in CO3 per unit mass of P (or Ca) in the tissue, and a concomitant increase in the CO3 occupying OH sites in the crystalline lattice became apparent.