STRUCTUE AND THE

FUNCTIOS OF THE TEETH AND

PULP

Taeb almasri 
487
STRUCTURE
OF THE •toothconsists of enamel, dentin, cementum and pulp tissue.
TOOTH The portion of a tooth exposed to the oral cavity is known as
the dental crown, and the portion below the dental crown is
known as the tooth root
COMPOSTION
O F   A TO O T H
Your teeth are composed
of four dental tissues.
Three of them—
enamel, dentin and ceme
ntum—are hard tissues.
The fourth tissue—pulp,
or the center of the tooth
that contains nerves,
blood vessels and
connective tissue—is a
soft, or non-calcified,
tissue.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

 AROUND ORAL CAVITY OF TEETH  
• WE ALSO HAVE SOME STRUCTURES SUCH AS 
1. ALVEOLAR BONE 
2. GINGIVA
3. ALVEOLAR SOCKETS
 This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

Consists of prisms (enamel rods) which are 5 μm in

ENAMEL •
diameter.
• The precise, interlocked arrangement of the enamel rods is
crucial for enamel’s hardness and resistance to great
pressures during mastication. 
• Main function of it is to forms an insulating barrier that
protects the tooth from physical, thermal, and chemical
forces that would otherwise be injurious to the vital
tissue in the underlying dental pulp.
 DENTIN
• Calcified and harder than the bone.
• Composed of 70% hydroxyapatite (mineral), type I
collagen and proteoglycans (glycosylated proteins)
• Odontoblasts are tall polarized cells that line pulp cavity
that secrete predentin similar to bone formation
• Long apical odontoblast processes extend from
odontoblasts within dentinal tubules which penetrate
dentin.
• These processes posses smaller lateral branches, which
are important for the maintenance of dentin matrix and
are stimulated when tooth repair is needed.
• primary function is to support the structure of
enamel. Due to it's softer texture than enamel, it helps
in absorbing the pressure from eating. It is
responsible for transferring the impulses from the
enamel to the pulp, where the nerve ending in the
pulp would receive the signals.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

 CEMENTUM
Cementum is Dense, calcified connective
tissue, CREATED BY CEMENTOCYTES
Provides a surface for insertion of peridontal
ligament
Covers the dentin of the root and resembles
bone, but it is avascular (doesn’t have vessels)
Cemnutm is thickest around the root tip
And main function of cementum is tooth support or tooth
anchorage together with the principal fibers and alveolar
bone. This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC.
 DENTAL PULP
• Dental pulp is an unmineralized oral tissue composed of soft connective
tissue, vascular, lymphatic and nervous elements that occupies the central
pulp cavity of each tooth.
• Pulp has a soft, gelatinous consistency.  (adjacent), indicates that by either
weight or volume, the majority of pulp (75-80%) is water. 
 STRUCTURE OF THE PULP 

dental pulp cavity exists in the center of the tooth, through which the
dental pulp, called the nerve, runs. In order to receive an impact on the
tooth and to absorb and alleviate the force on the jaw 

 
Blood vessels and the lymph vessels, as well as nerve fibers, are located
in the dental pulp, supplying nutrients to the dentin. run into pulp
through apical foramen 
 PULP
• Yet the pulp most important 4 functions are formation and nutrition of
the dentin, as well as the innervation and defense of the tooth
 A LV E O L A R B O N E A N D
G I N G I VA ?
• Alveolar bone: The jaw bone supporting the tooth; the
tooth is planted into this bone. When a large part of the
alveolar bone is destroyed by periodontal disease or
other causes, the tooth becomes loose. It is Surrounded
by peridontal ligament, which serves as periosteum
(blood supply, growth, healing)

• Gingiva: The soft tissue covering the alveolar bone. It

is generally called “gum”.
• Between the enamel and the gingival epithelium is the
gingival sulcus (a 3mm groove surrounding the neck).

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.

• function of the alveolar bone is to house and
support the teeth through the alveoli of each
tooth and for gingiva main function is provide a
seal around the teeth through the junctional
epithelium and the epithelial attachment to
resist mechanical trauma and to defend against
microorganisms.
 SOURCES :

J U N Q U E I R A’ S B A S I C H I S T O L O G Y 1 5 T H E D

BRS CELL BIOLOGY HISTOLOGY 8TH ED

W H E AT E R S F U N C T I O N A L H I S T O L O G Y 6 T H V
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