ABSTRACT
Growth rate and replacement of teeth in Amphibians
The growth rate of teeth depends on age: it varies from 5 days for the first teeth, functional at hatching time, to 2 months for 2-year-old animals. The life time of a functional tooth is 20 days in the young larva and in the young post-metamorphic individual; it is not precisely known in adults. The proteins of organic matrices are elaborated in ergastoplasm, transported through the Golgi apparatus and Golgian vesicles, and deposited outside the cells within 1 h. Destruction of old teeth begins before metamorphosis; it is performed by pulp cells necrosis, and intervention of macrophages and osteoclasts; teeth are completely destroyed in situ, allowing growth of the replacement teeth. Thyroxine hastens tooth replacement.
Copyright © 1977 by Company of Biologists
1977
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