Scanning electron microscopic study of

odontoblasts and circumpulpal dentin In

a human tooth
Dominique Marion,a Alain Jean, a
Henri Hamel, b
Lise-Marie Kerebel, PhD, c
and
Bertrand Kerebel,d Nantes, France
INSERM RESEARCH UNIT AND DENTAL FACULTY

Two combined scanning electron microscopic methods including modified fixative procedures were used for
studying the morphologic aspects of the odontoblasts and the corresponding dentinal wall at different
endodontic levels. The odontoblasts were tightly packed in the pulp horn, where they assumed pear-shaped
profiles and, from crown to apex, successively looked spindle shaped, club shaped, and globular. Their number
decreased in the pulp radicular portion, where the interglobular spaces were enlarged. The filling fibrillar
material varied from crown to apex. A globular circumpulpal dentin was observed at all levels of the root canal.
The tubule openings varied in number and size.
(ORAL SURG ORAL MED ORAL PATHOL

1n the last decade scanning electron microscopy

(SEM) has been used to check the efficiency of
endodontic instruments and of various solutions used
for canal irrigation. However, the various parietal
areas of the endodontic system are not yet well
known. Because of technical dimculties related to
fixation and preparation procedures, reliable SEM
observations are uncommon. 5 Actually, surface
conditions after instrumental procedures are described
without reference to the initial state. The purpose of
the present study was to develop a descriptive catalog
of the morphologic aspects of the odontoblasts and
the corresponding dentinal wall at different
endodontic levels with two combined SEM methods.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A sound upper left first premolar was removed surgically
from a 43-year-old woman whose occlusion
8
Professor, Department of Endodontics.
b
Professor and Chief, Department of Endodontics, and Dean of Dental
Faculty. CResearcher.
d
Professor and Chief, Department of Biology and Basic Sciences,
and Director, INSERM Unit U. 225. Fig. 1. Overall view of odontoblasts. (SEM; original 7/1S/28788 magnification, X
370.)

473
Fig. 2. Overall view of circumpulpal dentin. (SEM; original Fig. 3. Pulp horn. Note pear-shaped aspect of odontoblasts.
magnification, X 370.) (SEM; original magnification, X2300.)
474 Marion et al. ORAL SURG ORAL MED ORAL PATHOL
October 1991

Fig. 4. Aspect of dentin in pulp horn. (SEM; original

magnification, X 2300.)

Fig. 6. Aspect of dentin at proximal midpulpal level. (SEM;

original magnification, ><2300.)

Fig. 5. Spindle-shaped aspect of odontoblasts at proximal

midpulpal level. (SEM; original magnification, X2300.)
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Fig. 7. Odontoblasts assuming club-shaped profiles at root

coronal third level. (SEM; original magnification,
SEM study of human odontoblasts and dentin 475 Fig. 9. Odontoblasts assuming short, club-shaped profiles at
root midthird level. (SEM; original magnification,

Fig. 8. Aspect of dentin at root coronal third level. (SEM; Fig. 10. Note smooth aspect of globular dentinal relief at
original magnification, X 2300.) root midthird level. (SEM; original magnification, X 2300.)

was normal. Extraction was performed with the patient

under local anesthesia without epinephrine. The tooth
was fractured along its longitudinal axis, and the
specimens were prepared for SEM examination
according to a previously described method5 involving
postfixation in tannic acid. The cytologic aspects of
the odontoblasts at different levels of the pulp chamber
and radicular canal were studied with Hitachi S 450
and JEOL JSM 35 scanning electron microscopes. The
same specimens were then cleaned ultrasonically for 5
minutes in a 2.5% sodium hypochlorite solution,
prepared again for SEM, and examined with both
aforementioned microscopes, to study the mineral
aspects of the circumpulpal dentin corresponding to
the areas where the odontoblasts had been observed
previously.

RESULTS
The overall views of the same area of the
circumpulpal dentin examined twice showed first
the space distribution of the odontoblasts (Fig. l),
then the globular aspect of the dentin after
removal of the odontoblasts (Fig. 2).
At the pulp horn level the odontoblastic cell
bodies appeared as elongated pears (Fig. 3)
476 Marion et al. ORAL SURG ORAL MED ORAL PATHOL
October 1991

arranged in close contact with each other. The variable in size, and less tightly packed than
basal (pulpal) pole was bulging. The cell bodies previously observed, inducing interglobular
were 5 pm in diameter and spaces. The tubule openings were reduced in
number, randomly distributed, and smaller in
diameter (1.5 to 2 pm).
At the root midthird the intercellular spaces
were enlarged (Fig. 9) and filled with an ill-
defined fibrillar
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Fig. 1 1. Odontoblasts seen as disjoined globules at root

apical third level. (SEM; original magnification, X 2300.)

varied in length, seemingly assuming a stratified

aspect. The underlying dentin (Fig. 4) was pitted
with several wide tubules (2 gm in diameter) and
had flattened profiles. The disjoined dentinal
Fig. 12. Aspect of dentin at root apical third level. (SEM;
globules were irregular in shape and often
original magnification, ><2300.)
notched, and varied in size.
At the proximal midpulpal level the spindle-
shaped odontoblasts (Fig. 5) looked less tightly
packed than described earlier. The intercellular material. The cell bodies assumed short, clubbed
spaces were filled with fibrillar structures with profiles. The whole cell body, not only the basal
spiral profiles. The surface of the corresponding pole, was bulging. The circumpulpal dentin (Fig.
dentinal wall (Fig. 6) appeared evenly globular. 10) showed a smoother globular relief. The tubule
The globules were joined and round. Only a few openings were fewer and varied in diameter (1.5
of them had the notched aspect. There were as to 2 um) as in the coronal third.
many tubule as previously observed, and their At the root apical third the cell bodies (Fig. I l)
diameter was about the same. were definitely disjoined and assumed compact
At the root coronal third level the cell bodies globular profiles. The intercellular spaces were
(Fig. 7) were randomly distributed, with enlarged filled with profuse fibrillar material arranged in
intercellular spaces containing a scanty fibrillar large bundles or in fine fibrils. The dentinal wall
material. They assumed club-shaped profiles, and (Fig. 12) had globules with a smooth surface. The
their bulging pulpal pole continued in a short scanty tubules were randomly distributed and
pedicle. The dentinal globules (Fig. 8) were
small in diameter (l um); some were in the different endodontic levels. They appear tightly
process of obliteration. packed in the pulp horn and successively pear
The various shapes of the odontoblasts are shaped, spindle shaped, club shaped, or globular
summarized in Fig. 13. from the crown to the apex.
The intercellular spaces observed might be due to a
DISCUSSION decrease in the number of cells with age. 16
The study of the functional unit constituted by Considering our patient's age (43 years), it is obvious
the pulpodentinal complex is not easy, because of that dentinogenesis is in a less active synthetic state
the interface between a mineralized structure and than during the first stages of dentinogenesis. The
highly differentiated cells. Histologic disjoined cells described in the present study might be
examination provides only single-plane views of the result of a disruption of the intercellular
connections reported in transmission electron
the odontoblasts, and until recently 5 SEM images
microscopy10 and SEM,5 which means that the
showed many artifacts. Our technique allows to odontoblasts might be in a resting state.17
reduce SEM artifacts as shown by measurements The surface conditions of the circumpulpal
of the cell processes at the basal pole, SEM study dentin have been studied at the coronal level only,
of human odontoblasts and dentin 477 during the active stage of dentinogenesis. 18 The
three-dimensional variations in the structure of
the dentinal surface at the coronal and radicular
levels have never been compared before. The
present data show the dentinal surface to be
evenly globular, whereas this
type of mineralization has been reported to occur only
occasionally along the predentinal forming front. 9 The
main variations involve the size and shape of the
Fig. 13. Diagram summarizing shape variations of calcospherites, and the number and size of the tubule
odontoblasts. a, Pulp horn (pear shape); b, proximal openings.
midpulpal level (spindle shape); c, root coronal third On the basis of the precise data provided by the
level (elongated club shape); d, root midthird (short present study on the structure of the odontoblasts and
club shape); e, root apical third (globules). of the dentinal surface at the different endodontic
levels, it should soon be possible to corroborate the
morphologic variations with the cytophysiologic data
provided by other techniques and thus acquire a better
which correspond exactly to those of the tubule knowledge of the endodontic functional unit.
openings. It is therefore possible to compare the
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Reprint requests:
Dominique Marion
Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire
Pl. A. Ricordeau
44042 Nantes Cedex, France