Worm-Like Structures Linked to Tooth Decay

For years, scientists have debated the exact nature of the worm like structures inside a human tooth. The structures are not worms, but what they are is still in question. Micro-images in a dissected molar suggest they caused tooth decay

Studies by University of Maryland (U-M) Dental School researchers' revealed that cylindrical objects extending or 'growing' out of the natural pores or tubules of teeth

Inside a human tooth, more than 50,000 such tubules per square mm act as channels running from the nerve up through the tooth. They are associated with transporting hot or cold sensitivity to the tooth

The worm-like-structures were photographed in clear detail by Ru-Ching Hsia, director of the electron microscope core facility at the school

"Most (dentists) say 'I have no idea'. Others say they are made of bacteria, or minerals, or hyphal branches of yeast cells (C. albicans) which have infected the tooth structure," said co-presenter Gary Hack, associate professor at the Dental School

For the sake of humouring his students, Hack said: "I call them tooth worms and I'm sticking to it." The aim of the Maryland study was to investigate the structures with scanning electron imagery and different specimen preparation techniques

The researchers' observations raised new questions in the controversy over nature of the strange structures. For example, they found two of the cylinder structures within a single tubule, a discovery that challenges the hypothesis that the structures are cellular extensions

Whereas the majority of the structures appear to be hollow and devoid of any content, a number of these structures appear to be solid, said an U-M release

These findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Microscopy Society of America in Richmond