[Oxytalan fibers of the periodontium]

Oxytalan fibers have been described for the first time in 1958 by FULLMER and LILLIE; they seem to be different from collagen fibers and elastic ones (the last being scare in the alveolar ligament). Either their biochemical structure or their specific functions remains to be known. This first work tries to describe the maturation and the organisation of the oxytalanic system. Molars of rats are observed and use is made of both photonic and electronic transmission microscopies.