[Study of trace elements in bovine permanent teeth germ].

Abstract

It is well documented that uptake of various trace elements take place during tooth development. The purpose of this experiment was to analyze the uptake amount of these various trace elements, in particular Cd, Zn, Pb and Cu throughout the tooth germ formation all the way up to the eruption stage. Bovine permanent tooth germs were used in this experiment. Instead of the conventional morphologic stages, further subdivision into eight groups were employed. The resultant findings were as follows: 1) Uptake of Cd and Zn were verified during the root development to early tooth eruption stage in enamel. Meanwhile, for dentin, the uptake was corroborated from the root development to the late tooth eruption stage. 2) Uptake of Cu was verified during the late tooth eruption stage in enamel. However, no uptake occurred in dentin in any of the various stages. 3) Uptake of Pb occurred during the late tooth eruption stage in enamel. Meanwhile, in dentin, constant equivalent amount of uptake was seen throughout all of the stages. 4) Quantitative analysis of the Cd, Zn and Pb uptake in both enamel and dentin clearly indicated that enamel showed much higher values. The uptake of Cu was found to be significantly high in the groups of the coronal one-third and the eruption four-fifth groups for enamel. Meanwhile, the crown completion group to the half erupted group showed significantly high values for dentin. Based on the above findings, one can deduce clear correlation between enamel organ development and the uptake of the said various trace elements.