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Teeth

Teeth

The formation of teeth, also known as odontogenesis, is a complex process that begins in utero, around the sixth week of embryonic development. There are three stages to this process: the bud stage, the cap stage, and the bell stage.
In the bud stage, the tooth germ (an aggregation of cells) starts to form in the developing jawbone. During the cap stage, the tooth germ differentiates into enamel organ, dental papilla, and dental sac, which will later develop into the tooth's enamel, dentin and...

Tooth Anatomy

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The Crown, Neck, and Root
The visible part of the tooth is referred to as the crown. It's covered by enamel, the hardest substance in the human body. The crown is uniquely shaped for each type of tooth, allowing for different functions such as cutting, tearing, or grinding food.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Micro-dissection of Enamel Organ from Mandibular Incisor of Rats Exposed to Environmental Toxicants

Micro-dissection of Enamel Organ from Mandibular Incisor of Rats Exposed to Environmental Toxicants

Published on: March 29, 2018

Human deciduous mandibular molar incremental enamel development.

Patrick Mahoney¹

¹School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK. p.mahoney@kent.ac.uk

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

|August 27, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study quantifies deciduous enamel development in human molars, revealing birth

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Last Updated: Jun 9, 2026

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Isolation and Culture of Dental Epithelial Stem Cells from the Adult Mouse Incisor

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Published on: May 1, 2014

Area of Science:

Paleoanthropology
Developmental Biology
Forensic Anthropology

Background:

Incremental markings in permanent human enamel aid age-at-death estimation and primate evolution studies.
Deciduous enamel studies are limited due to less frequent reporting of developmental reconstructions.
Understanding deciduous tooth development is crucial for comprehensive human growth and evolutionary analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify enamel development duration and rate in deciduous mandibular molars (dm1 and dm2) from a modern human juvenile archaeological sample.
To establish methods for calculating crown formation time from specific cusps (protoconid, metaconid, hypoconid, entoconid).
To provide data that facilitates age-at-death estimation in infants and comparative studies of primate deciduous enamel development.

Main Methods:

Quantitative analysis of incremental markings in deciduous mandibular first (dm1) and second (dm2) molars.
Measurement of enamel formation times for specific cusps (protoconid, metaconid, hypoconid, entoconid).
Calculation of crown and cusp formation times, initiation and completion, and daily enamel secretion rates.

Main Results:

Crown formation time was calculable for dm1 protoconid and dm2 protoconid/hypoconid.
Most dm1 protoconid enamel formed prenatally; dm2 entoconid enamel formed mainly postnatally.
Birth caused a 3-8 day disruption in enamel growth, reduced secretion rates, and altered marking visibility.

Conclusions:

The study provides quantitative data on deciduous enamel development, enhancing age-at-death estimation for infants (<13 months).
Findings support comparative analyses of primate deciduous enamel development and evolutionary relationships.
Regression equations are provided to estimate cuspal formation time from enamel thickness.