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
Tooth decay includes dental fluorosis and developmental defects of the tooth including hypomineralization of the tooth and hypoplasia of the tooth. The early carious lesion is characterized by demineralization of the tooth surface, altering the tooth's optical properties. Technology utilizing laser speckle image (LSI) techniques may provide a diagnostic aid to detect early carious lesions. Caries can be classified by location, etiology, rate of progression, and affected hard tissues. These forms of classification can be used to characterize a particular case of tooth decay in order to more accurately represent the condition to others and also indicate the severity of tooth destruction.