Amelogenesis is the process of forming tooth enamel, the hard, protective outer layer of teeth.
[1] This process begins during tooth development after the initial formation of dentin (dentinogenesis), the layer beneath the enamel.
The IEE cuboidal or low columnar with centralized nuclei and poorly developed Golgi complexes.
It is at this stage that a signal is sent from the newly differentiated ameloblasts back across the dentinoenamel junction (DEJ) to stimulate dentinogenesis.
When this first layer is formed, the ameloblasts move away from the interface with dentin, allowing for the development of Tomes' processes at the end of the cell which is in contact with the DEJ.
Tomes' process is the term given to the end of the cell which lays down the crystals of the enamel matrix.
Enamel formation continues around the adjoining ameloblasts, resulting in a walled area, or pit, that houses a Tomes' process, and also around the end of each Tomes' process, resulting in a deposition of enamel matrix inside of each pit.
Proteins used for the mineralization process compose most of the material transported into the matrix, importantly amelogenins, ameloblastins, enamelins, and tuftelins.