Background: Micro-hardness investigations have shown that rat pups nursed by mothers on a low calcium diet and weaned with the maternal calcium-deficient diet develop hypomineralized enamel. The inorganic and organic components of this enamel, their relationships, and their changes after return to normal diet have been studied by light and electron microscopy.
Methods: The maturation zone of incisor enamel has been studied in: (1) rats nursed for 20 days by mothers on a low calcium diet and weaned for 30 days with the same diet (E1 enamel); (2) rats that after the calcium-deficient diet were fed normal diet for 10 days (E2 enamel); and (3) rats nursed for 20 days by mothers on a normal diet and weaned for 30 days with a normal diet (controls).
Results: The results showed that E1 enamel was hypomineralized, as noted by its Azure II-Methylene blue stainability in undecalcified sections, its light staining with the von Kossa method, and its ultrastructure. E1 crystallites, although present throughout the whole enamel, were thinner than those of E2 enamel, which were similar to those of controls. E1 interrod crystallites were thicker in the intermediate than in the dentinal zone and were thicker than rod crystallites. Organic matrix was present throughout the whole E1 enamel. Its organic components (crystal ghosts) had the same shape, arrangement, and organization as those of inorganic crystallites. Crystal ghosts were greatly reduced in E2 enamel and in controls.
Conclusions: The results lead to the conclusions that: (1) E1 enamel is hypomineralized, and its degree of calcification is restored by return to a normal calcium diet; (2) intra- and interprismatic calcification occurs in a different way; (3) crystallite thickness is initially greater in dentinal than in the superficial zone and is reversed as crystallite growth is completed; and (4) loss of enamel proteins is necessary for completion of crystallite growth and not for crystallite formation.