Human tooth development the dentogingival junction. This junction has three epithelial types: gingival, sulcular, and junctional epithelium. These three types form from a mass of epithelial cells known as the epithelial cuff between the tooth and the mouth. Much about gingival formation is not fully understood, but it is known that hemidesmosomes form between the gingival epithelium and the tooth and are responsible for the "primary epithelial attachment". Hemidesmosomes provide anchorage between cells through small filament-like structures provided by the remnants of ameloblasts. Once this occurs, junctional epithelium forms from reduced enamel epithelium, one of the products of the enamel organ, and divides
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.