Interactions of the tooth and bone during development

The tooth works as a functional unit with its surrounding bony socket, the alveolar bone. The growth of the tooth and alveolar bone is co-ordinated so that a studied distance always separates the 2, known as the tooth-bone interface (TBI). Lack of mineralization, a crucial feature of the TBI, creates the space for the developing tooth to grow and the soft tissues of the periodontium to develop. We have investigated the interactions between the tooth and its surrounding bone during development, focusing on the impact of the developing alveolar bone on the development of the mouse first molar (M1). During development, TRAP-positive osteoclasts are found to line the TBI as bone starts to be deposited around the tooth, removing the bone as the tooth expands. An enhancement of osteoclastogenesis through RANK-RANKL signaling results in an expansion of the TBI, showing that osteoclasts are essential for defining the size of this region. Isolation of the M1 from the surrounding mesenchyme and alveolar bone leads to an expansion of the tooth germ, driven by increased proliferation, indicating that, during normal development, the growth of the tooth germ is constrained by the surrounding tissues.