Tooth enamel is the thin outer shell of a tooth. It covers the crown of the tooth, which is the part that can be seen outside the gums. Although it is the outer layer, the enamel is transparent. Dentin, the hard tissue underneath the enamel, is what gives color to teeth.
Tooth enamel is the white, hard, shiny outer layer of the teeth that covers the underlying tissues, i, ii It is the hardest substance in the human body, even stronger than bone, and is composed almost entirely of minerals. These minerals give strength to enamel, so they can protect teeth from damage and help them look shiny, white and healthy, ii. Tooth enamel is one of the four main tissues that make up the tooth in humans and many other animals, including some species of fish. It constitutes the normally visible part of the tooth and covers the crown.
What is Tooth Enamel?
Enamel is the outer covering of your teeth and is responsible for protecting your tooth crown (the part you can see above your gums). Without enamel, your teeth would sustain serious damage.
It's a tough substance made up of crystalline calcium phosphate. It appears a soft beige to white and is semitranslucent, allowing the dentin layer underneath to show through.
What is Enamel?
Enamel is the hard, white shell that protects the crown (the part of your tooth visible outside of your gums) of your teeth. It is the hardest tissue in the human body, stronger than bone, but it is also brittle and susceptible to chipping or cracking.
It is made of carbonate substituted hydroxyapatite crystallites. It is formed during a process called amelogenesis by cells known as ameloblasts that originate from the oral ectoderm.
Amelogenesis is a complex and regulated process that requires specialized proteins. Ameloblasts also secrete an extracellular matrix surrounding the developing enamel crystallites, which helps control growth and directionality of enamel.
The crystallites in enamel grow predominantly along their c-axis and align parallel to one another. These alternating crystallites are packed together to form an interrod enamel that can reach tens of micrometers in length.
Why is Enamel Important?
The tooth enamel that covers each of your teeth is the hardest tissue in your body. Without it, you'd have to deal with serious damage and an increased risk of infection.
It's also the first line of defense against cavities, yellow teeth, and temperature sensitivity. Enamel is the hard surface layer of your teeth and helps protect the inner layers, including dentin.
Your enamel is made of minerals, most notably calcium. It also contains sodium, fluoride, and magnesium.
Because your enamel is so tough, it's important to protect it by eating healthy foods and practicing good oral hygiene habits. Brushing twice a day, flossing and using mouthwash with fluoride can help keep your enamel strong and prevent damage from occurring.
It's also important to make sure you are getting enough calcium in your diet. Dairy products are a great source, but you can also get it from many vegetables. You can also drink plenty of water to boost your saliva levels.
How Does Enamel Damage Happen?
Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in your body, yet it can also be the hardest to protect. Even when you practice good oral care, certain food and drink choices can erode your enamel and leave you vulnerable to tooth decay.
When you drink soda or eat sugary foods and snacks, the sugar in these items combines with bacteria to create acid that attacks your teeth. Fruit juice and flavored water also can damage your enamel if you consume them regularly.
Other culprits of enamel erosion include eating disorders like bulimia, which can cause frequent vomiting and a high-acid diet. Other dietary habits that can erode enamel include dry mouth, low saliva flow (xerostomia), and acid reflux disease (GERD).
To help keep your teeth strong and healthy, avoid highly-acidic drinks, like soda, juice or wine. Chewing sugar-free gum between meals can help dilute acid in your mouth, and drinking lots of water throughout the day can rinse away bacteria. Brushing with a fluoride toothpaste can strengthen your enamel.
What Can I Do to Protect My Enamel?
Enamel is a hard mineral layer that protects your teeth. It’s tougher than bone, but it can weaken over time.
You can strengthen and protect your enamel by following good dental care practices and avoiding certain habits that contribute to tooth erosion. Brush twice a day, floss and use mouthwash regularly to keep your mouth free of bacteria.
Drink plenty of water to help your saliva work harder to neutralize the acid in your mouth and wash away food debris. Avoid sour and sugary foods and drinks, and opt for sugar-free alternatives.
Remineralization products, which introduce minerals such as calcium and fluoride, are especially helpful at helping your enamel strengthen. Talk to your dentist about which remineralization product will work best for you.
Other common threats to your enamel include heartburn and the eating disorder bulimia, which causes vomiting after meals. Swimming pools can also erode your enamel, since the water often contains too much chlorine to be protective. Check the pool’s chlorination levels before you swim.
The other major tissues are dentin, cement and dental pulp. It is a very hard, white to off-white, highly mineralized substance that acts as a barrier to protect the tooth, but may become susceptible to degradation, especially by acids in foods and beverages. Rarely, enamel does not form, leaving the underlying dentin exposed on the surface. Your teeth are made up of four dental tissues.
Three of them: enamel, dentin and cement are hard fabrics. The pulp of the fourth tissue, or the center of the tooth that contains nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue, is a soft or non-calcified tissue. Tooth enamel is the substance that forms a layer around the top of each tooth. It is an extremely hard substance that is specifically designed to protect teeth from damage.
Enamel is a shield that protects the vulnerable area on the side of the teeth, which can be damaged due to tooth decay. Tooth enamel is the hard, visible, outermost covering of your teeth. The enamel is translucent, which gives shine to the teeth and, depending on its thickness, is seen through the color of the underlying dentin, which ranges from light yellow to a gray white or blue similar to blue. It is the hardest substance in the human body and contains a high percentage of minerals.
When you eat foods or beverages that are high in acid, they can wear away enamel (this is known as “tooth erosion”). You can significantly reduce the risk of enamel erosion by drinking more water each day, avoiding acidic foods, using a straw if you drink acidic beverages, brushing and brushing well and carefully, and using toothpaste and mouthwash that contain fluoride. Although dental floss and toothbrushes cannot penetrate deep grooves and pits of the enamel, good general oral health habits often prevent bacterial growth enough to prevent tooth decay from occurring. In isolated societies that do not have access to toothbrushes, it is common for these people to use other objects, such as canes, to clean their teeth.
For the most part, research has shown that tooth enamel formation in animals is almost identical to formation in humans. When acids are present and the critical pH is reached, the hydroxyapatite crystallites in the enamel are demineralized, allowing greater bacterial invasion deep into the tooth. Most countries use toothbrushes extensively, which can reduce the amount of dental biofilm and food particles in the enamel. If the discoloration is deeper or in the dentin, this method of teeth whitening will not be successful.
Fluoride catalyzes the diffusion of calcium and phosphate on the tooth surface, which in turn remineralizes the crystalline structures of the dental cavity. When enamel wears out, chips, or breaks, there's nothing that stands between bacteria in the mouth and the tooth that's easily susceptible to terrible infections. These tooth enamel treatments can range from bonding teeth to placing a crown on the affected tooth. All Pronamel products contain a clinically proven ingredient that protects against the effects of acid erosion and actively helps strengthen acid-weakened tooth enamel.
They also vary along the enamel, from the enamel on the surface of the tooth, the outer enamel, to the junction between the dentin and the enamel, DEJ. . .
