Department of Developmental Biology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
J Dent Res. 2013 Mar;92(3):212-4. doi: 10.1177/0022034512474469. Epub 2013 Jan 23.
Root development and tooth eruption are very important topics in dentistry. However, they remain among the less-studied and -understood subjects. Root development accompanies rapid tooth eruption, but roots are required for the movement of teeth into the oral cavity. It has been shown that the dental follicle and bone remodeling are essential for tooth eruption. So far, only limited genes have been associated with root formation and tooth eruption. This may be due to the difficulties in studying late stages of tooth development and tooth movement and the lack of good model systems. Transgenic mice with eruption problems and short or no roots can be used as a powerful model for further deciphering of the cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms underlying root formation and tooth eruption. Better understanding of these processes can provide hints on delivering more efficient dental therapies in the future.
牙根发育和牙齿萌出是口腔医学中非常重要的课题。然而，它们仍然是研究和了解较少的课题。牙根发育伴随着牙齿的快速萌出，但牙根是牙齿进入口腔运动所必需的。已经表明，齿槽突和骨改建对于牙齿萌出是必不可少的。到目前为止，只有有限的基因与牙根形成和牙齿萌出有关。这可能是由于研究牙齿发育后期和牙齿移动的困难，以及缺乏良好的模型系统所致。具有萌出问题和短根或无根的转基因小鼠可用作进一步解析牙根形成和牙齿萌出的细胞、分子和遗传机制的强大模型。更好地了解这些过程可以为未来提供更有效的牙科治疗提供线索。
