Figure 22: Micrograph of sample EIN-15. This sample displays another commonly occurring pathology, a developmental defect leading to zones of interglobular and globular dentine. These are areas of unmineralised or hypomineralised dentine where globular zones of mineralisation have failed to fuse into a homogeneous mass within mature dentine. The condition is especially prevalent in human teeth as a result of vitamin D deficiency or exposure to high levels of fluoride at the time of dentine formation (Nanci 2003). In a few samples, microbes seem to have targeted the less mineralised inter-globular dentine, as can be seen in this micrograph. The two arrows mark a cluster of MFD located in an area with inter-globular dentine. Inter-globular areas are indicated with an asterisk. These MFD are located in an area of the crown dentine, directly beneath an enamel lesion. This tooth displays otherwise dense bioerosion around the root canal and in the cementum, while there are few MFD above the pulp cavity. This may suggest that the MFD in this area were caused by micro-organisms that entered via the lesion.
Figure 22

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