Explainable and critical periods during human dental morphogenesis and their control

Objective: To what extent is the current knowledge about regulatory and patterning processes gained from research on animal models (predominantly mouse) applicable to describe certain aspect of human prenatal dental development? Methods: 3D-reconstructions were produced from serial sections of human dental primordia (Radlanski collection, Berlin) and scanning electron microscopic visualisation techniques were applied. Results and conclusion: There are several examples, where present knowledge of regulatory processes allows the understanding of changes in outline and form. However, many other examples show that much more complex regulatory mechanisms should be expected to explain the details of human prenatal dental development. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.