Tooth eruption: evidence for the central role of the dental follicle

Abstract

The roles of the gubernaculum dentis, root formation, tooth crown and dental follicle in pre-functional eruption of a mandibular premolar were studied in 9 beagle dogs by radiographic and histologic evaluations of the effect of surgical ablation or removal of these structures on tooth eruption. The dental follicle was the only one of these structures required for the coordinated enlargement of the eruption pathway and bone formation in the base of the bony crypt, the radiographic and histologic hallmarks of tooth eruption. Together with the topographic relationships of the dental follicle to areas of localized bone resorption and formation, the dental follicle may apparently influence, if not coordinate, these processes in tooth eruption.