The enamel organ, also known as dental organ, is a cellular aggregation seen in histologic sections of a developing tooth. It lies above a condensation of ectomesenchymal cells called the dental papilla. Historically, enamel organ has been the term to describe this structure, but it was attempted unsuccessfully in recent years to change the name to dental organ in order to better represent its multiple functions apart from enamel formation.
The enamel organ functions in the formation of enamel, initiation of dentin formation, establishment of the shape of a tooth's crown, and establishment of the dentogingival junction.
The parts of the enamel organ include the inner enamel epithelium, outer enamel epithelium, stratum intermedium, and the stellate reticulum.
Famous quotes containing the word organ:
“But alas! I never could keep a promise. I do not blame myself for this weakness, because the fault must lie in my physical organization. It is likely that such a very liberal amount of space was given to the organ which enables me to make promises, that the organ which should enable me to keep them was crowded out. But I grieve not. I like no half-way things. I had rather have one faculty nobly developed than two faculties of mere ordinary capacity.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)