Tooth eruption: evidence for the central role of the dental follicle.

The roles of the gubernaculum dentis, root formation, tooth crown and dental follicle in prefunctional eruption of a mandibular premolar have been studied in nine beagle dogs by radiographic and histologic evaluations of the effects of surgical ablation or removal of these structures on tooth eruption. The dental follicle was the only one of these structures required for the coordinated enlargement of the eruption pathway and formation of bone in the base of the bony crypt, the radiographic and histologic hallmarks of tooth eruption. These data, together with the topographic relationships of the dental follicle to areas of localized bone resorption and formation, are interpreted to mean that the dental follicle may influence, if not coordinate, these processes in tooth eruption.