The Mystery Uncovered—Baby Tooth

Today we’re looking through the microscope with Dr. David Menton.

This is a light micrograph of an early stage in the development of a tooth in a human fetus. The tooth germ has budded off from a layer of cells (stained blue in this photo) called the dental lamina.

The dental lamina is attached to the surface layer of the gum (stained red). The developing tooth looks like an inverted “V” but in 3 dimensions is shaped like a bell and is thus called the bell stage of development. The dark blue stained bell is a layer of cells called the enamel organ which will make the enamel of the tooth. The shape of this layer of cells is already determining the shape of the cusp of the tooth. When this mandibular tooth emerges (when the baby cuts this tooth) the predetermined shape must precisely match (occlude) with the corresponding tooth growing down from the maxilla (upper jaw). Unlike bones, the enamel of our teeth can never change shape once the tooth is formed. We need to get it right the first time! If this were the only evidence I had for a Creator, I would need no more.

To more about tooth development and much more, check out Dr. Menton’s Body of Evidence course on human structure and function.