ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the formation of dentin, dentinogenesis. Since most biochemical studies have been performed on dentin from cow and rat, those data concern mainly these species. Relatively little has, in fact, been done on the biochemistry of human dentin. Initially, a brief outline of dentin morphology is also given, this bearing mostly upon human dentin. Dentin, the most voluminous mineralized tissue of the tooth, may be looked upon as a connective tissue, the extracellular matrix of which has been modified to contain a mineral phase in order to fulfill the functional requirements on the issue. On an average, the mineral content of human dentin is somewhat higher than that of bone. The rate of tertiary dentin formation and its structure vary according to the intensity and character of the stimulus. The morphology is distinct and no resorptive processes occur in the tissue simultaneously with calcification.
