Correlation of scanning and transmission electron microscopy of human dentinal tubules

Areas of human dentine were examined first with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and subsequently with the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Structures observed in dentinal tubules from outer dentine by SEM were identified by TEM as electron-dense structures lining the tubules and not as odontoblast processes. These structures, termed lamina limitans, correspond to the previously described inner hypomineralized lining of dentinal tubules.