Demonstration of structural variation in rat incisor dentin as determined by the x-ray Laue method.

Rat incisor dentin was studied by an x-ray micro-Laue method to investigate the relationship between crystal orientation and structural variation in the dentin. The results showed that crystal orientation was very poor in the labial dentin, but that the crystals were well-oriented in the lingual dentin. In the lingual dentin, the axis of crystal orientation was parallel to the tooth axis. It is suggested that the difference in crystal orientation between the lingual and labial dentin is due to the different mode of calcification between the two.