Bone Induction in Excavation Chambers in Matrix of Decalcified Dentin

EXPERIMENTS by Charles B. Huggins and his associates,1and many others during the past thirty years,2-11demonstrate that whole toothbuds and parts of toothbuds possess the capacity to grow and develop in areas of the body other than the jawbone, even in the form of explants in tissue culture. The toothbud not only continues its characteristic development, but also exhibits the capacity to induce undifferentiated connective tissues to form bone. To explain these observations, Hoffman12postulates that the enamel organ and its derivative, Hertwig's epithelial root sheath, stimulates connective tissue cells to differentiate into bone cells, while Zussman13contends that odontoblasts which had previously participated in dentin formation can produce bone even when not in contact with oral tissues. Except that the new bone originates from proliferating living cells in both the transplanted tooth and in the host bed, present knowledge of the local physiology of