THE ONTOGENY OF MOLAR PATTERN
Authors: BUTLER P. M. 
Published: January 2008

The crown pattern of the tooth is essentially that of the surface of the dentine (dentine‐enamel junction), modified by the deposition of enamel which may be uneven in thickness. The dentine‐enamel junction preserves in the completed tooth the form of the membrana praeformativa, the basement membrane of the inner enamel epithelium of the enamel organ. Folding of this membrane creates the crown pattern.

The inner enamel epithelium is subjected to pressure from both sides. On the basal side there is the rapidly growing mesenchyme of the dental papilla, and on the occlusal side there is the stellate reticulum, which swells by the accumulation of fluid. The stellate reticulum prevents distortion of the epithelium by growth of the papilla, and thus ensures that folding of the epithelium is due to its intrinsic growth pattern. This makes for more accurate control of the crown pattern, the details of which are of importance in the function of chewing.

The enamel knot is a region of the inner enamel epithelium from which cells are contributed to the stellate reticulum. It represents the tip of the primary cusp. The enamel cord (‘enamel septum’) which consists of cells which are in process of transforming into stellate reticulum, has been confused with two other structures that develop later: a cleavage septum, preparatory to the formation of crown cementum, and an epithelial septum, found in marsupials and crocodilians. The epithelial nodules of monotremes are probably degenerate relics of an epithelial septum.

The inner enamel epithelium is a diaphragm passing across the interior of the dental follicle, and folding to adapt its increased area to a confined space. The cement organ, which in some mammals develops from the follicle, probably plays no part in the deformation of the epithelium, but the follicle as a whole may be subject to compression by adjacent follicles.

A cusp is a centre of precocious maturation of the cells of the inner enamel epithelium. Here growth ceases (perhaps after a transitory burst of mitosis) and eventually the hard tissues are deposited. The process starts at the tip of the cusp and extends basally, so that growth continues longest in the valleys, intensifying the crown relief. Dens in dente is due to retarded maturation of an area of the enamel epithelium.

Throughout the development of the crown there is a marginal zona cingularis, where growth continues. The crown pattern depends upon the position and the stage of growth in which cusps are differentiated from the zona cingularis, by accelerated maturation of groups of cells. Cusps which appear late in development stand low on the crown and frequently form part of a cingulum. Changes in the timing of cusp formation play an important part in serial modifications of pattern, as well as in phylogeny.

Ridges are probably produced by tensions set up in the epithelium by the relative movement of cusps, owing to unequal growth or to changes in the shape of the follicle. They form in areas where growth has slowed down but the apposition of hard tissues has not begun.

The lobes of the basal outline of the tooth are produced by growth centres in the papilla, which cause evagination of the follicle. Each growth centre is supplied by a bundle of blood vessels. The roots form in relation to these blood vessels, and so reflect the organization of the papilla. Hertwig's epithelial sheath grows between the follicle and the base of the papilla, the direction of its growth being controlled by the surrounding tissues owing to the absence of stellate reticulum on the basal portion of the tooth.

There is no constant relation between cusps and roots, although marginal cusps frequently arise in association with lobes of the basal outline. The crown pattern results from an interaction between the growth pattern of the inner enamel epithelium and that of the papilla, the latter controlling the shape of the margin which limits the folding epithelium.