A manual of dental anatomy : human and comparative / by Charles S. Tomes.

Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of dental anatomy : human and comparative / by Charles S. Tomes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    55/614 (page 41)
    as. w ell as in those of decalcified dentine. When stretched to a considerable extent their dianieter becomes diminished und they finally break, a sort of bead sometimes appearing at tiie l)roken end (Tomes). This would seem to indicate that tlie substance of the fibril is of colloid consistency, and that its external portions are in some degree firmer than its nxial portion. The dentinal fibrils arc well seen in the accompanying hgure, in which some hang out from the edge of the dentine, whilst others haA'e been pnlled out from the dentine and are seen attached to the odontoblast cells. Modern methods of histological research have made tlic <lemonstration of the fibrils, which are continued fronj the odontoblast cells and enter the dentinal tubes, an easy matter ; they are of some size, and, judging from ap2)ear- .uices, arc pretty firm in consistence, as they look somewhat •stiff where they are seen j)rojectiug from the surface of a torn-away pulp. They do not stain ver}' readily, although manj^ stains are slightly taken by them; j^^^i'li^H^^ one of the best waj's of staining tliem is to treat the tooth with a salt of iron followed by tannin, of coarse after a thorough washing. The dentinal fil)ril is capable of being stained with car- mine, though with some difhculty : in young dentine it is more easily stained, especially near the pul]) cavity, and the accompanying drawing is taken from such a section ui' dentine from a half formed human incisor. The matrix is slightly stained witli the carmine, indicating that it has not yet become fully impregnated witli salts, and in the centres of the clear areas dark s])ots deeply stained with carmine arc to l)e seen, the latter being transverse sections of the dentinal fibrils in ki'/h. I have observed precisely similar appearances in the thin young dentine of calves' and pigs' teeth ; Kollikcr also mentions that the dentinal fibril may be recognised i)i nidi in transverse sections of fresh dentine.