Understanding the Structure of the Mammalian Mineralised Tissues Through Their Development

Abstract

AbstractMost aspects of the structure and composition of the principal mineralised tissue types [in teeth = enamel, dentine and cementum; in bone organs = woven and lamellar and extrinsic (Sharpey) fibre bone and calcified growth plate cartilage and articular calcified cartilage and calcified fibrocartilage and calcified ligament or tendon] and of the all-important junctions between them can be best understood from a knowledge of developmental mechanisms and the rules and constraints that these generate. We should consider the interface between formative cells and the organic matrices where these are secreted by an appositional mechanism; possible influences of cell movements; mineral crystal orientation and size and maturation; junctions formed by simple apposition of one tissue upon another; junctions involving a prior resorptive (partial destruction and 'etching') step; and interstitial matrix expansion, NB in cartilage.