Morphometric analysis of the deposition and mineralization of enamel and dentine from rat incisor during the recovery phase following a low-calcium regimen

Abstract

The administration of a low-calcium diet to pups nursed by a mother on the same diet has been shown to induce a slowing of growth. A reduction of the apposition rate of dentine, which was normally mineralized, and a dramatic reduction of the extent of mineralization of enamel, whose organic matrix was otherwise produced in an almost normal amount, was observed in the incisors of these animals. Modifications of the mineral apposition rate of dentine, measured after administration of tetracycline (10 mg/kg), and the thickness and the microhardness of the two tissues, the latter being an expression of the degree of mineralization, were now investigated when hypocalcic pups were restored to a normal-calcium diet for 10 or 60 days. Enamel microhardness was increased by more than 60% after only 10 days of restored diet and had become the same as in the control tissue after 60 days, without any significant increase in thickness. Dentine thickness and mineral apposition rate increased significantly, to become similar to those of the controls after 60 days of restored diet. In dentine there was no significant variation of microhardness between experimental pups and controls, either during the low-calcium diet or the restorative period. These results indicate that the deposition of the organic matrix of enamel is a process independent from that of its mineralization, and that the mineralization of the organic matrix happens by its replacement even a long time after its deposition. In contrast, the deposition and mineralization of dentine are strictly interdependent processes, at least in these experimental conditions. The modifications of the incisor tissues induced by this diet can be reversed by the administration of a correct diet, at least in continuously growing teeth.