Outline and arrangement of enamel rods in human deciduous and permanent enamel. 3D-reconstructions obtained from CLSM and SEM images based on serial ground sections.

Human enamel rods were made visible continuously from the dentino-enamel junction (DEJ) up to the enamel surface. From 12 teeth (1st and 2nd dentition) enamel blocks from the cervical third were prepared with perpendicular planes, embedded in resin, and ground down in steps of 15 microm parallel to the enamel surface. Enamel rods were made visible by acid etching (35% H3PO4, 45 s), sputtered and examined in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Prior to this, the enamel blocks were viewed under the CLSM and optical sections at distances of 2 microm were obtained, starting in the same plane as the grinding surface. The outlines of the rods were digitized and reconstructed three dimensionally. For the first time, the path of single and grouped enamel rods on their way through the entire enamel layer was depicted. 3D images obtained from confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) data were similar to those gained from SEM images. Single rods did not maintain their same outline throughout their path; arcade outlines predominated close to the DEJ, while keyhole outlines prevailed at the enamel surface. Within a group of rods, neighborhood relations changed, and neighbor rods influenced their outlines mutually, including the variable extent of the tail. The interdependence between the plasticity of the rods and the ameloblasts' forms should be topics of further research.