Aspects of cell proliferation kinetics of the inner dental epithelium during mouse molar and incisor morphogenesis: a reappraisal of the role of the enamel knot area. (17/1014)

First lower E-14 and E-16 mouse molars and E-13 lower incisors were cultured in vitro and either sequentially or continuously labelled with BrdU (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine). The behaviour of the non-cycling inner dental epithelial cells emerging from the enamel knot area of the molars was analysed by 3D (three dimensional) reconstructions of serial sections. These cells, as well as slow cycling cells underwent a coordinated temporo-spatial patterning leading to their patchy segregation at the tips of the forming cusps. In incisors (in vitro and in vivo), non-cycling cells were also present in the inner dental epithelium of the enamel knot area. However, these cells were not redistributed during incisor morphogenesis. These non-dividing inner dental epithelium cells of the enamel knot area which are either redistributed or not according to the tooth type specific morphogenesis might represent the organizers of morphogenetic units (OMU), the cusps.  (+info)

The influence of maxillary incisor inclination on arch length. (18/1014)

This ex vivo study was designed to investigate Andrews' hypothesis that there is a space implication when incisors are torqued correctly. A working model was constructed to allow acrylic typodont incisors of varying known values of inclination to be substituted into the model. The arch lengths of the various 'set-ups' were measured using a reflex microscope linked to a PC. In order to quantify the space requirement of clinical relevance for adequate incisor torque, the method was repeated by substituting replicas of patients' 'natural' incisors. For both acrylic and natural incisors it was found that, as the inclination of the teeth increased, there was an increase in all arch lengths, this being greater for the natural incisors. This larger increase for the natural incisors was related not only to their increased size, but was also dependent on the morphology of the incisor. Those incisors which were parallel-sided showed the greatest increase in arch length, whereas the incisors that were relatively triangular in shape showed the smallest increase. When the inclination of an 'average' set of 21/12 is increased by 5 degrees, an increase in the arch length of approximately 1 mm may be expected.  (+info)

Skeletal and dental changes following the use of the Frankel functional regulator. (19/1014)

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative contributions of skeletal and dental components in correction of Class II division 1 malocclusions when treated with Frankel's functional regulator (FR). This was a retrospective study involving analyses of pre- and post-treatment cephalograms of 63 Class II division 1 patients treated with the FR to demonstrate the relative maxillary, mandibular, incisor, and molar movements during treatment compared with normal growth within a control group of untreated 39 Class II division 1 cases drawn from the same demographic population. All cephalograms were digitized and subjected to a Pitchfork analysis, which measured individual anteroposterior skeletal and dental changes during the period of study. It was shown that the FR was effective in treating Class II division 1 cases with the studied group being corrected to a clinically acceptable overjet and overbite of 2-3 mm. The majority of the correction came from dental movements, the most significant being the retroclination of the upper incisor teeth (mean 4.1 mm, 95 per cent CI +/- 0.44) and proclination of the lowers (mean 2.2 mm 95 per cent CI +/- 0.57). As regards skeletal correction, the most significant contribution was the restraint of normal maxillary forward growth (mean -0.2 mm, 95 per cent CI +/- 0.62) with forward mandibular growth not being a significant factor.  (+info)

Effects of phenylephrine and prazosin on axial movement of the rat incisor and arterial blood pressure. (20/1014)

We investigated the dose-response effects of phenylephrine and antagonistic effects of prazosin on axial movement of the rat incisor and arterial blood pressure. Phenylephrine caused a temporal extrusive tooth movement and an increase in blood pressure at all doses. With increasing phenylephrine doses, the maximum extrusive tooth movement and maximum increase in blood pressure were enhanced. The maximum extrusive tooth movement and increase in blood pressure induced by phenylephrine were markedly suppressed after pretreatment with prazosin. These results suggested that extrusive tooth movement is closely related to the rise in blood pressure due to stimulation of vascular alpha1-receptors.  (+info)

Localization of putative stem cells in dental epithelium and their association with Notch and FGF signaling. (21/1014)

The continuously growing mouse incisor is an excellent model to analyze the mechanisms for stem cell lineage. We designed an organ culture method for the apical end of the incisor and analyzed the epithelial cell lineage by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine and DiI labeling. Our results indicate that stem cells reside in the cervical loop epithelium consisting of a central core of stellate reticulum cells surrounded by a layer of basal epithelial cells, and that they give rise to transit-amplifying progeny differentiating into enamel forming ameloblasts. We identified slowly dividing cells among the Notch1-expressing stellate reticulum cells in specific locations near the basal epithelial cells expressing lunatic fringe, a secretory molecule modulating Notch signaling. It is known from tissue recombination studies that in the mouse incisor the mesenchyme regulates the continuous growth of epithelium. Expression of Fgf-3 and Fgf-10 were restricted to the mesenchyme underlying the basal epithelial cells and the transit-amplifying cells expressing their receptors Fgfr1b and Fgfr2b. When FGF-10 protein was applied with beads on the cultured cervical loop epithelium it stimulated cell proliferation as well as expression of lunatic fringe. We present a model in which FGF signaling from the mesenchyme regulates the Notch pathway in dental epithelial stem cells via stimulation of lunatic fringe expression and, thereby, has a central role in coupling the mitogenesis and fate decision of stem cells.  (+info)

Longitudinal post-eruptive mandibular tooth movements of males and females. (22/1014)

Unbiased estimates of post-eruptive eruption and migration of the mandibular teeth for large representative samples are presently unavailable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pure tooth movements of untreated children and adolescents longitudinally. Lateral cephalograms of 214 French-Canadians, followed bi-annually between 8 and 15 years of age, were traced, and the positions of the mandibular permanent central incisors and first molars were digitized. Temporal changes in tooth position were evaluated relative to naturally stable mandibular reference structures, using the mandibular reference line for orientation. The statistical analyses included t-tests to assess gender differences and Pearson product-moment correlations to evaluate associations. The results showed that the incisors proclined significantly more for males (6 degrees) than females (3 degrees). The incisor tips displayed early mesial movements that were countered by later distal movements. The incisor apex showed a consistent pattern of distal migration between 8 and 15 years. Mandibular arch length decreased over the 7-year observation period. Rates of mesial molar migration accelerated until 11 years of age and then decelerated. There was no significant change in the mandibular occlusal plane angle between 8 and 15 years of age. Incisor eruption showed the greatest rates during adolescence, attaining peaks at approximately 12 years for females and 14 years for males. The molars erupted approximately 5 mm between 8 and 15 years of age. The greatest gender differences occurred at the older ages, with males showing greater eruption potential than females. It was concluded that the mandibular teeth show significant migration and eruption during childhood and adolescence, with gender differences in the amount, direction, and timing of movement.  (+info)

Evaluation of apical root resorption following extraction therapy in subjects with Class I and Class II malocclusions. (23/1014)

The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of root resorption during orthodontic treatment, and to examine the relationship between tooth movement and apical root resorption. Twenty-seven Class I and 27 Class II patients treated with edgewise mechanics following first premolar extractions were selected. The following measurements were made on the pre- and post-treatment cephalograms: upper central incisor to palatal plane distance, the inclination of upper central incisor to the FH and AP planes, the perpendicular distances from the incisor tip to the AP and PTV planes, and incisor apex to PTV. The amount of apical root resorption of the maxillary central incisors was determined for each patient by subtracting the post-treatment tooth length from the pre-treatment tooth length measured directly on cephalograms. Intra-group differences were evaluated by the Student's t-test and inter-group differences by the Mann-Whitney U-test. For correlations the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results show that there was a mean of approximately 1 mm (P < 0.01) of apical root shortening in Class I patients, but in Class II division I subjects the mean root resorption was more than 2 mm (P < 0.001). The inter-group differences were statistically significant. No significant correlations were found between the amount of apical root resorption and tooth inclination, or the duration of active treatment.  (+info)

A systematic review of the relationship between overjet size and traumatic dental injuries. (24/1014)

The aim of this study was to aggregate the risk of traumatic dental injury due to overjet using several published papers and performing a meta-analysis on the results. The 11 articles involved in this investigation were identified by a literature search of Medline (1966-1996) and Exerpta Medica (1985-1996) databases using predetermined keywords, and inclusion and exclusion criteria. In order to assess the quality of each paper, a methodological checklist for observational studies was developed resulting in a score between 0 and 100. The relative risk of overjet, compared with a reference, was expressed as an Odds Ratio (OR). For each study, the OR was computed using the data presented and, subsequently, these ORs were pooled across studies. The effect of confounders (i.e. age, gender), which could bias the relationship between overjet and dental injury was taken into account. Furthermore, the influence of quality of the study on the pooled OR was addressed. The average methodological score was 41. From the results, it can be concluded that children with an overjet larger than 3 mm are approximately twice as much at risk of injury to anterior teeth than children with an overjet smaller than 3 mm. The effect of overjet on the risk of dental injury is less for boys than for girls in the same overjet group. In addition, risk of injury of anterior teeth tends to increase with increasing overjet size. Furthermore, the pooled OR does not seem to be affected by the quality of the studies.  (+info)