Compact Bone Compact bone is a highly structured, dense type of bone found where maximum strength is required. The osteons of compact bone are the elements that determine this strength via their arrangment along lines of stress. Think of osteons as reinforcing columns, all arranged in the same direction, like a stack of pencils. Other lamellae, isolated and not associated with a central canal are remnants of older osteons called interstitial lamellae .
Bone is a very dynamic tissue, constantly being restructured as older osteons are replaced by new.
The interstitial lamellae are evidence of this restructuring. Bone forming cells or osteoblasts are never found in lacunae but rather along the edges of bone where new lamellae form. When an osteoblast is completely surrounded by the forming hydroxyapatite, it becomes an osteocyte. A third type of bone cell to remember is the osteoclast , also found along the edges of bone. Osteoclasts are active where bone or calcified cartilage is being resorbed resorbed and restructured.