Hunter-Schreger Band patterns and their implications for clinical dentistry.

Hunter-Schreger Bands (HSBs) are an optical phenomenon visualised when a cut or fractured enamel surface is viewed under reflected light. These bands demonstrate the synchronous decussation of individual or groups of enamel prisms. While the role of HSB patterns has been investigated in comparative anatomical studies, until recently there has been little consideration of HSB patterns in human teeth. The aim of this paper is to consider the significance of HSB patterns in the human dentition and in relation to clinical dentistry. It is concluded that within the human dentition, HSB patterns have evolved to optimise resistance to attrition, abrasion and tooth fracture. It appears that certain aspects of HSB packing densities and distributions have beneficial roles in enamel bonding. Hunter-Schreger Band patterns seem to passively facilitate conditions such as abfraction and cracked tooth syndrome.

Gabriel-Philippe de la Hire and the discovery of Hunter-Schreger bands.

Hunter-Schreger bands are an optical phenomenon observed in mammalian tooth enamel. Familiar to all current and former students of dental histology, this optical phenomenon appears as alternating patterns of dark and light bands when cut enamel is viewed under reflected light. The discovery of this important feature of mammalian enamel has been historically credited to two eighteenth-century investigators, Hunter and Schreger. A re-evaluation of the evidence would suggest that the bands were observed almost seventy years earlier by a French scientist, Gabriel-Philippe de la Hire, and subsequently confirmed by the famous French dentist Pierre Fauchard. This article reviews the contribution of de la Hire, as well as that of Fauchard, Hunter and Schreger, to the early recognition among the scientific community of what would now be referred to as 'enamel microstructure'.

Pierre Fauchard: the 'father of modern dentistry'.

The development of the modern practice of dentistry can be traced to the work and life of Pierre Fauchard, a French dentist who worked in the first half of the eighteenth century. Fauchard was an exceptionally gifted and talented practitioner, who introduced many innovations to dentistry. In a significant break with the tradition of the time, he shared his knowledge and techniques with colleagues, and published these in the first comprehensive dental textbook. This paper reviews his life and contribution to modern dentistry.