Bud stage of tooth development in a human fetus (40X)

This is a frontal section of the head of a human fetus. The bone has started to develop in the maxilla as well as in the mandible. Because of the stain used to color this tissue sample, the bone has a blue color.

Within the two quadrants seen here, there are two dental laminas, and encircling these laminas, a condensation of the mesenchyme takes place. In between the spicules of bone in the mandible, you can see a cross section of the alveolar nerve (lat: n. alveolaris inferior). Meckle's cartilage is situated medially to the mandibular bone. If you look closely, you can see the down growth of the parenchyma of the salivary glands and the developing muscular fibers of the tongue.

Push the 'magnify' button below the image to see which parts of the section that have been magnified.