Contents

 Bone
• Composition of bone
• Classification of bone
• Functions of bone
 Jaw bones
Alveolar bone
• Definition
• Classification of alveolar bone
• Development of alveolar bone
• Histology of alveolar bone
• Cellular components of alveolar bone
• Age changes in alveolar bone
• Internal reconstruction of alveolar bone
• Clinical consideration
BONE:
 Specialized mineralized connective tissue making
up the skeletal framework of the body

 Made up of cells, vessels, crystals of calcium

compounds (hydroxyapatite), the proportion of
which varies according to bone types and regions.
COMPOSITION:
BONE

Inorganic (67%) Organic (33%)

Hydroxyapatite
Collagen (28%) Non Collagenous
proteins (5%)
 Hydroxyapatite
Ca10[PO4]6[OH]2
Small plates deposited in the hole and gaps of collagen fibrils
 Collagen
Mainly type I
2 type of fibers
 Intrinsic collagen
secreted by osteoblasts
 Extrinsic collagen
sharpey’s fibers
 Non Collagenous proteins
Bone sialoprotein
Osteocalcin
Osteonectin Glycoprotein
Thrombospondin
Fibronectin

Decorin
biglycan Proteoglycan
Classification of bones
 
 
Depending on gross appearance
 Long (Femur,
  Tibia, Radius, Ulna)
 Flat (Pelvis, Scapula)
 
Depending on type
 Immature/woven
 
 Mature/lamellated
 
 Compact
 Cancellous
Histology
 Histologically both compact & cancellous
bone is made of microscopic layers/lamellae
approximately 5 μm thick

 Forms three distinct types of layering

 Circumferential lamellae
 Concentric lamellae
 Interstitial lamellae
Circumferential lamellae
 Enclose the bone, forming its outer perimeter
Concentric lamellae
 Makes up the bulk of compact bone and forms the
basic metabolic unit of bone-Osteon/Haversian system

 Each osteon is composed of a central vascular channel

surrounded by a kind of tunnel, called the Harvesian
canal. The canal can contain capillaries, aterioles,
venules, nerves and possibly lymphatics

 Haversian canals are interconnected by volkmann canal

Interstitial lamellae
 Interspersed between adjacent concentric lamellae
and fill the space between them
Functions

 Support

 Protection

 Locomotion

 Reservoir of minerals

 Attachment to muscles

 Framework for bone marrow

TYPE OF BONE MATURE IMMATURE BUNDLE

SITE Adult skeleton Embryo, early stage of At site of attachment

healing of factures & of tendons &
extraction socket ligaments to bone

STRUCTURE

FIBERS Fine & regular Coarse & irregular Fine, regular & fewer

GROUND Normal Less More

SUBSTANCES
OSTEOCYTES Regular Irregular Regular

CALCIFICATION Normal Less More

RADIOGRAPH Radio-opaque Less radio-opaque More radio-opaque

 Jaw bones

Alveolar bone Basal bone

 Defined as that part of the maxilla and the
mandible that forms and supports the sockets of
the teeth.

 Partly tooth dependent.

 Forms when teeth erupts to provide the osseous

attachment to the forming periodontal ligament.

 Requires functional stimuli to maintain bone mass.

Disappears gradually after the tooth is lost.

 Absent in anodontia
 GROSS
 Consists of 2 parallel plates of cortical bone, the
buccal & lingual/palatal alveolar plates, between
which lie the sockets of individual tooth

 Between each socket lie the interalveolar/

interdental septa

 The floor of the socket - Fundus

The rim -Alveolar crest

 Form and depth of each socket is defined by the

form and length of the root it supports
CLASSIFICATION
1. Based on adaptation to functions: 
 Alveolar bone proper 

 Supporting alveolar bone

Cortical plates (Compact bone)
Buccal
Lingual
 Spongy bone

2. Based on anatomical relationship to tooth

 Radicular 
 Inter radicular 
 Inter proximal
A) Alveolar bone proper
 Forms the inner socket wall and gives attachment to
principal fibers of periodontal ligament.
 Sieve-like, as it transmits number of (inter-alveolar)
blood vessels and nerves and hence it is called
Cribriform plate.
 Consists partly of lamellated bone & partly of
bundle bone
- Lamellated bone forms haversian systems
- Some of it are lined parallel to bone marrow
 Bundle bone is the inner portion of the
alveolar bone proper in which the bundles of
principal fibers of PDL are anchored as
sharpey’s fibres
- It is characterise by scarcity of fibrils in
intercellular ground substance
- These fibrils are at right angles to sharpey’s
fibres
- Appears dark in H & E stained sections
- Appears radio-opaque (dense white line) in
radiograph and is called lamina dura (as it
contains more calcium salts per unit area)
B) Supporting alveolar bone

 Surrounds the alveolar bone proper and gives

support to the socket.
- Cortical plates
 Consists of compact bone and forms the outer
and inner plates of the alveolar processes

 Thinner in maxilla

 Thickest in premolar & molar region of lower

jaw

 In maxilla -Porous
in mandible -Dense
Cortical plates
- Spongy bone
 Is Cancellous bone

 Fills the area between the cortical plates and

alveolar bone proper

 The lamellae are arranged to form trabeculae

about 50μm thick. The trabeculae are arranged
along line of stress to withstand forces applied
to bone with minimal mass

 Trabeculae surround the marrow spaces and

derive nutrition from it. Haversian canals are
infrequent
Radiographic appearance

 Type I
 Seen mostly in mandible
 Regular, horizontal ladder like arrangement
 Follows a trajectory pattern

 Type II
 Seen mostly in maxilla
 Numerous delicate irregularly arranged trabeculae
 Lacks a distinct trajectory pattern
 Greater number of trabeculae in a given area
Spongy bone
Cross section of Periodontium

Tooth
PDL
Alveolar bone proper
Supporting alveolar bone
Radicular bone:
Alveolar bone located on the facial or lingual surfaces
of the roots of the teeth.
Interradicular bone:
 Bone located between the roots of multirooted teeth

Interproximal bone:
 Bone located between the roots of the adjacent teeth.
 
NOTE: Interradicular and interproximal septa contain the
perforating canals of Zuckercandel and Hirschfield. They
are nutrient canals, which house the interdental and
interradicular vessels and nerves.
Alveolar crest:

 The peak point of the alveolar bone, present at

the cemento-enamel junction of the normal
tooth.

 The shape of the alveolar crest is dependent

on the position of the adjacent teeth.

 If the neighbouring teeth are inclined, the

alveolar crest is oblique.

 In periodontal pathologies, the alveolar crest

shifts because of bone loss.  
Alveolar crest

Interproximal bone

Interradicular bone
DEVELOPMENT OF ALVEOLAR BONE

Bone formation occurs by three mechanisms

 Endochondral

 Intramembranous

 Sutural
DEVELOPMENT OF ALVEOLAR PROCESS
 As the developing tooth germ reaches the early bell
stage, the developing bone becomes closely related to
it to form the alveolus.

 The size of the alveolus is dependent on the size of

the growing tooth germ.

 Near the end of the 2nd month of fetal life, the

maxilla as well as the mandible forms a groove that
is open to a surface of the oral cavity.

 The tooth germs are contained in the groove, which

also includes the alveolar nerves and vessels.
 Gradually bony septa develop between adjacent tooth
germs and much later primitive mandibular canal is
separated from the dental crypts by a horizontal plate
of bone.
 Alveolar bone develops only during the tooth eruption.
 During growth, part of the alveolar process is
gradually incorporated into maxillary or mandibular
body. It grows at a rapid rate at its free borders.
 During the period of rapid growth, a tissue may
develop at the alveolar crest that combines
characteristic of cartilage and bone, called Chondroid
bone which is replaced later by typical bone.
HISTOLOGY OF ALVEOLAR BONE

 Shows three distinct types of layering

 Circumferential lamellae

 Concentric lamellae

 Interstitial lamellae
Cellular components of the alveolar bone

1. Osteoblasts

2. Osteocytes

3. Osteoclasts

4. Osteoprogenitor cells

5. Bone lining cells

Osteoblast
 Uninucleated cells that synthesize both
collagenous and noncollagenous bone proteins
(the organic matrix, osteoid).

 Responsible for mineralization and are derived

from a multipotent mesenchymal cell.

 Considered to differentiate through a precursor

cell, the preosteoblast.

 Constitute a cellular layer over the forming bone

surface
 The cells line up side by side and are rather
cuboidal in shape.

 During the active stage the cytoplasm is basophilic.

 When bone is no longer forming, the surface

osteoblasts become inactive and are termed Lining
cells. Such cells have thin flat nuclear profiles,with
cytoplasm extending along the bone surface

 Cytoplasmic organelles are few and include

mitochondria, free ribosomes, and isolated profiles
of rough endoplasmic reticulum.
Osteoblasts secrete,
 Type I & type V collagen
 Small amounts of several noncollagenous
proteins (some of which [the
Phosphoproteins] are critical to bone
mineralization)
 Cytokines.
Osteocyte
 As osteoblasts secrete bone matrix, some of them
become entrapped in lacunae and are then called
Osteocytes.

 The number of osteoblasts that become osteocytes

varies depending on the rapidity of bone
formation; The more rapid the formation, the
more osteocytes are present per unit volume.

 As a general rule, embryonic (woven) bone and

repair bone have more osteocytes than does
lamellar bone.
Osteocyte
 After their formation, osteocytes gradually lose
most of their matrix-synthesizing machinery and
become reduced in size.

 The space in the matrix occupied by an osteocyte

is called osteocytic lacunae.

 Narrow extensions of these lacunae form enclosed

channels, or canaliculi, that house radiating
osteocytic processes
Osteoclast
 Large multinucleated cells, probably derived from
the monocytes.

 Seen in areas undergoing bone resorption.

 Easily be identified under the light microscope,

they are generally seen in a cluster rather than
singly.

 Characterized cytochemically by possessing

Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase within its
cyoplasmic vesicles and vacuoles, which
distinguishes it from other giant cells and
macrophages.
 Typically osteoclasts are found against the
bone surface, occupying shallow, hollowed-
out or bay like depressions, called Howship's
lacunae, that they themselves have created.

 They have Brush or Ruffled border which are

sites of great activity.

 These finger like projections secrete enzymes

necessary for bone resorption.

 Ruffled border is surounded by a clear zone

devoid of organelles and has only fine
granular cytoplasm with microfilaments
Three processes occur during bone resorption

 Decalcification of matrix
By organic acids & H+

 Degradation of matrix
By collagenase & cathepsin B

 Transport of soluble products to the

ECF/the blood vascular system
 Osteoclast

Howship's lacunae

Ruffled border

Brush border
Osteoprogenitor cells
 They are mesenchymal, fibroblast like cells,
regarded as forming a stem-cell population to
generate osteoblasts.

 Situated in the vicinity of blood vessels of

periodontal ligament.
Bone lining cells
 They are found lining the quiescent surface when
the alveolar bone is in the resting stage.

 They are undifferentiated, flattened cells &

represent inactive osteoblasts.
AGE CHANGES IN ALVEOLAR BONE
 Alveolar bone is a connective tissue, which is
continuously subjected to stresses and forces of
occlusion and mastication

 Changes continuously during growth and alteration

of functional stresses

 Aged bony tissues which is no longer adapted to

mechanical forces are removed by the osteoclasts
and at the same time osteoblasts produces new
bone

 Undergoes remodeling throughout life; the rate and

intensity of remodeling decreases with age
 INTERNAL RECONSTRUCTION OF BONE

 Identical to bone in the rest of the body and it is in a state of

constant flux.

 During the growth of maxilla and mandible the bone is

deposited in the shape of basic or circumferential lamella.
When the lamellae reach a certain thickness they are
replaced from inside by haversian bone. In the Haversian
canal closest to the surface, osteoclasts resorb the haversian
lamellae and a part of circumferential lamellae. The resorbed
bone is replaced by proliferating loose connective tissue; this
area of resorption is sometime called Cutting Cone or
Resorption Tunnel.
 Bone is laid down rhythmically and this leads to
formation of regular, parallel lines, which are
formed in periods of relative rest / quiescence, and
are termed as Resting Lines. These lines are
prominent in bundle bone on the distal surface
during physiologic drift of teeth; are less calcified.

 In the place where the activity has changed from

deposition to resorption there are lines called
Reversal Lines, which are darkly stained. They are
irregular in outline (scalloped), being composed of
series of concavities, which were once sites of
howship’s lacunae
Resting Lines

Reversal Lines
Clinical considerations
 Requires functional stimuli to maintain bone mass
 Increased functional forces- Formation of new
bone
 Decreased functional forces- Loss of bone
volume
 Bone though one of the hardest tissues in the human
body, is biologically a highly plastic tissue.
 Bone is resorbed on the side of pressure &
deposited on opposite side. Thus the entire
alveolus is allowed to shift with tooth. This
principle forms the basis of orthodontic tooth
movement
 Periodontal diseases
 Bone loss
 Horizontal/ vertical
 Fenestration/dehiscence

 Disappears gradually after the tooth is lost

 Bone grafts & Implants