Human tooth development stellate reticulum and stratum intermedium. These cells give rise to ameloblasts, which produce enamel and become a part of the reduced enamel epithelium (REE) after maturation of the enamel. The location where the outer enamel epithelium and inner enamel epithelium join is called the cervical loop. The growth of cervical loop cells into the deeper tissues forms Hertwig Epithelial Root Sheath, which determines the root shape of the tooth. During tooth development there are strong similarities between keratinization and amelogenesis. Keratin is also present in epithelial cells of tooth germ and a thin film of keratin is present on a
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.