Ameloblast showing a disruption in enamel production when the person is born. High fevers in childhood are also an example of bodily stressors causing interruptions in enamel production. Another possible example of this sensitivity (stress response pathway activation) may be the development of dental fluorosis after childhood exposure (between the ages of 2 to 8 years old) to excess fluoride, an elemental agent used to increase enamel hardness and prevent dental caries. Ameloblast Ameloblasts are cells present only during tooth development that deposit tooth enamel, which is the hard outermost layer of the tooth forming the surface of the crown. Each
Human tooth development of primary teeth are for weeks "in utero". Abbreviations: wk = weeks; mo = months; yr = years. Tooth development is commonly divided into the following stages: the initiation stage, the bud stage, the cap stage, the bell stage, and finally maturation. The staging of tooth development is an attempt to categorize changes that take place along a continuum; frequently it is difficult to decide what stage should be assigned to a particular developing tooth. This determination is further complicated by the varying appearance of different histologic sections of the same developing tooth, which can appear to be different stages.