Abstract
Growth of inorganic crystals of enamel is described as a two-stage process with growth of ribbon-like crystals in length and width, followed by their development in thickness. In early stages of crystal growth during human amelogenesis nanometer-sized particles with a mean diameter of 1.1 nm were described between ribbon-like crystals. These small particles had a crystalline structure but their lattice parameters did not seem to be directly related to those of calcium phosphates. The nanometer-sized particles appear to correspond to initial stages of apatite crystal growth. Their localization close to ribbon-like crystals and their progressive increase in size and number may indicate that they represent a precursor phase for these crystals. Nucleation areas at both extremities, of elongated ribbon-like crystals could be involved in the two-directional growth of ribbons and/or in nanometer-sized particle nucleation.
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Cuisinier, F.J.G., Steuer, P., Senger, B. et al. Human amelogenesis: high resolution electron microscopy of nanometer-sized particles. Cell Tissue Res 273, 175–182 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304624
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304624