Visualization of the symmetry of regional zones of dentin of a human molar tooth in polarized light

In the region of the regional zones of the dentin crown of a human molar tooth, the symmetry of the dentin microstructure was studied using the visual optical polarization method. It has been shown that dentinal tubules in the vicinity of the molar cusps are organized in the form of bundles, which often have axial symmetry. The symmetry axes of the bundles coincide with the corresponding pulp horns and are oriented towards the center of the tubercles of the tooth crown. Within the growth zones that form the tubercles, peculiar optical effects similar to conoscopic figures in the form of a “Maltese cross” were visually detected. The nature of such figures indicates the ordered structure of growth zones formed from optically anisotropic tubes around a single center. The data obtained by the optical method correlate well and informationally complement diffusion methods based on staining of dentinal tubules. It has been shown that the visual polarization optical method can be used to study different types of organization of the microstructure of dentinal tubules.