title: Morphology and age-related changes in calcospherites of human teeth: an ultrastructural study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dentine has been examined extensively for age-related physiological changes, but there are limited data on age-related changes at ultrastructural level of dentine.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to examine age-related ultrastructural changes in calcospherites of human dentine under the scanning electron microscope.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty single rooted teeth of North Western adult Indians (18-75 years) were collected from the Department of Oral Health Sciences, PGIMER, Chandigarh. Labiolingual sections were prepared and morphology of calcospherites was studied at different locations (coronal, cervical, midroot and apical) of the tooth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Morphologically, four types (I [small, unfused and discrete], II [partially fused and globular], III [large, completely fused] and IV [structureless]) of calcospherites were seen in the sample. With advancing age, type I calcospherites approached neighbouring crystals and changed their form to type II, which ultimately coalesced and transformed to type III. Results revealed that among different age groups (young, middle and old), calcospherites of only type I, II and III showed statistically significant differences in their shapes using Pearson's Chi-square test. Statistically non-significant differences were obtained in the shapes at different locations of the tooth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results showed that calcospherites get fused as age advances. There is a change in the shape of calcospherites based on the location of the tooth.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Anthropology , Panjab University , Chandigarh , India.
authors.forename: Jasbir
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: a Department of Anthropology , Panjab University , Chandigarh , India.
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Talwar
authors.affiliation: b Department of Anatomy , PGIMER , Chandigarh , India.
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sahni
authors.affiliation: c Department of Oral Health Sciences , PGIMER , Chandigarh , India.
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rattan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003804:Dentin / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008875:Middle Aged; D019228:Tooth Crown / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Calcospherites; age estimation; morphology; scanning electron microscope; teeth