Abstract

In order to elucidate the developmental stages of human tooth germ during prenatal period, we examined 254 normal fetuses ranging in gestational age from six weeks to fourty weeks old histologically. Lim's developmental pattern of prenatal tooth germ was divided into three groups, the first group consisting of five grades (I, II, III, IV, V) was for the development of enamel epithelium the second group of three grades was for the deposition of dentin matrix and enamel matrix, and the third group of three grades (A, B, C) was for the growth of perifollicular bone. Some developmental progress between enamel epithelium and dental papilla could be identified by observation of the sequential development of deciduous and permanent tooth germs histologically. The following results were made. 1) The prenatal development of tooth germ showed similar weekly stages in both the maxilla and the mandible. The initial deposition of dentin matrix and enamel matrix (III-1 stage) started at 12-14 weeks of gestational age in the deciduous incisor and canine, and at 16-20 weeks of gestational age in the deciduous molars. And the initial deposition of dentin matrix and enamel matrix in the permanent first molar was at 20-22 weeks of gestational age, and that of the permanent incisor was at 34-36 weeks, and that of the permanent canine was 36-38 weeks, and of the permanent premolar was at 38-40 weeks. 2) The S-shaped curvature was characteristically found where the reciprocal induction of odontoblast and amelobast occurred actively in the developing tooth germ. Primarily pre-ameloblasts which abutted on the dental papilla differentiate the condensed mesenchymal cells into odontoblasts, and secondarily matured odontoblasts which bulged into enamel epithelium produced dentin matrix and differentiated the shrunken pre-ameloblasts into ameloblasts. 3) The mandible grew more rapidly than the maxilla during the early prenatal period. The trabecular bone from both jaws proliferated initially into labial side of developing tooth follicle and gradually circumscribed the tooth follicle lingually and mesio-distally, to form perifollicular bone resultantly.

• Keywords: Prenatal tooth germ development;fetus;tooth;embryology;