Ultrastructural study of the root dentine surface resuming resorption on human deciduous teeth

Resorption of deciduous teeth is not continuous, but alternates with periods of repair or rest. Dentine surfaces in periods of rest or repair resume resorption by odontoclasts during physiological root resorption of the deciduous teeth. However, no observations of such dentine surfaces have been shown. The characteristic feature of the dentine surfaces resuming resorption remains unknown. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity (TRAP) was detected on human deciduous teeth. The root resorbing surfaces on these teeth were photographed with a whole-mount light microscope, and the photographed areas were serially sectioned into 0.5 mu m semithin sections. Preodontoclasts and odontoclasts were three-dimensionally reconstructed. On root resorbing surfaces, areas with small scattered TRAP-positive cells were observed among areas with many TRAP-positive resorbing odontoclasts and TRAP-negative areas. The sections showed that areas with small scattered TRAP-positive cells have features similar to those of TRAP-negative areas, but there were three kinds of characteristic TRAP-positive cells: preodontoclasts, odontoclasts forming small lacunae, and preodontoclasts and odontoclasts with cytoplasmic processes extending to the dentine surface, which is covered with cells. These results suggest that the areas with small scattered TRAP-positive cells could be at the stage of resuming resorption, and show that the presence of preodontoclasts and odontoclasts with cytoplasmic processes extending to the covered dentine surface is a characteristic feature of the dentine surface at this stage.