Biomineralization in domestic pig molars

The evolution of biominerals, including teeth, has been an important step in the evolutionary diversification of organisms. For an organism, biominerals allow various advantages, such as ion storage, protection, food capture and processing, and locomotion. In mammals, tooth enamel is the hardest and most mineralized part of the body. Although tooth development is better known than that of many other organs, the maturation of enamel is still not completely understood. Enamel formation is a slow process biologically. In humans, the mineralization of the enamel in the first permanent molars starts at the time of birth, and the process continues even after the eruption of the teeth at the age of six years. Any disturbances during the enamel formation or other damage later in life will become permanent, as enamel does not reform. The aim of this work is to document the maturation of domestic pig molars, and use mineralogical and physics research methods to study enamel growth. The domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) is a plant-dominated herbivore with large, bunodont molars. The relatively fast development of pig teeth together with their large size makes pig teeth a suitable model for comparisons of different methods. One of the methodological interests was to test if mineral grains can be used in computational microtomography for relative calibration of the absorption models. Three minerals (fluorapatite, quartz and siderite) were chosen by their physical and chemical features. The calibrated absorption models were compared with the results of more traditional methods, such as thin sections and hardness tests. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were also used for structural studies. The results show that the microtomography is a valuable starting point for the traditional destructive methods used in the study of biomineralization, but does not substitute for the other methods. The mineral calibration was an efficient method for the microtomography-absorption models. Additionally, the calibration minerals allowed detection of microtomography artifacts better than using teeth only.