enamel layer

Fluorosis develops during the first 8 years of childhood while the outer enamel layer of the teeth is still growing.

Too much demineralization without enough remineralization to repair the enamel layer leads to tooth decay.

Every day, minerals are added to and lost from a tooth's enamel layer through two processes, demineralization and remineralization.

This small enamel layer is only seen in older whales where the cementum has been worn away to show the underlying enamel.

In order to produce sufficient likeness to ivory, the thick enamel layer on the hippos' teeth will have to be burned away with acid.

As bonding is more effective on tooth enamel than the underlying dentin, care is taken not to remove the enamel layer.

Oxygen radicals from the peroxide in the whitening agents contact the stains in the interprismatic spaces within the enamel layer.

Minerals such as fluoride, calcium, and phosphate are redeposited (remineralization) to the enamel layer from the foods and waters consumed.

Minerals are lost (demineralization) from a tooth's enamel layer when acids - formed from plaque bacteria and sugars in the mouth - attack the enamel.

Once tooth wear progresses through the enamel layer, the exposed dentin layer is softer and more vulnerable to wear and tooth decay.

Not all of the enamel layers are visible on the surface of the tooth because enamel layers that are formed early in crown development are buried by later layers.

In line with ameleogenesis imperfecta, affected members may display teeth yellow-brown in colour, dysplastic, presenting numerous caries; reduced enamel layer prone to posteruptive failure; and abnormality of morphology involving dentine.

Some causes of toothache are the more obvious culprits such as a cracked tooth, filling or veneer, dental caries from eating acidic, sweet foods that corrode the fillings and the tooth's protective enamel layer.

If the tooth's enamel layer is too thin or if the pulp lies too close to the tooth's surface, recontouring may not be possible and another procedure - such as bonding or veneers - might need to be considered instead.