title: Ghost cells in complex odontoma: a light microscopic and SEM study.
abstract: Ghost cells in complex odontoma were studied by light microscopic and scanning electron microscopic examination of decalcified sections. They were found at different locations in odontomas: next to tubular dentin, at the site where enamel would be expected; adjacent to remnants of enamel matrix or surrounded by enamel matrix; within granular calcified masses in contact with bone or tubular dentin; in contact with ameloblasts or adjacent to small rests of odontogenic epithelium. They were either isolated or arranged in groups. Their cytoplasm presented a fibrillar component and a lack of keratohyaline. In a complex odontoma, ghost cell keratinization occurs as a result of metaplastic transformation. The calcifying process in these cells was found to be a passive one, with the cells becoming gradually entrapped within the calcified material--bone, osteoid, dentin, dystrophic osteodentin, or dystrophic granular or lamellar types of calcification. Complex odontomas contain both normal and metaplastic odontogenic epithelial cells, which may have lost their developmental and inductive properties.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kerebel
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kerebel
mesh_terms: D000565:Ameloblasts / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000473:pathology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009808:Odontogenic Tumors / Q000473:pathology*; D009810:Odontoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D007633:Keratins