Architecture and mineralization of developing cortical and trabecular bone of the mandible

Ossification of the presumptive trabecular bone in the mandibular condyle and the presumptive cortical bone in the mandibular corpus of the pig mandible was investigated during development, using micro-computed tomography (microCT). Three-dimensional architecture and mineralization characteristics were assessed from ten pigs of different developmental ages. In the condyle, increases in trabecular thickness and separation and a decrease in the trabecular number, led to an unchanged bone volume fraction. A conversion from rod-like into plate-like trabeculae was observed. Bone volume and trabecular thickness were always higher in the corpus, where an increase in bone volume fraction was caused by an increase in the trabecular thickness and a decrease in separation. A transition from a plate-like structure into a more compact structure took place. The average degree of mineralization in the condyle and the corpus increased with age. In the corpus, the degrees of mineralization were higher than in the condyle. The differences between the condyle and corpus and the changes with age could be explained by differences in the distribution of mineralization within the trabecular elements. Generally, the degrees of mineralization increased from the surface toward the centers of the trabecular elements, indicating growth of the trabecular elements by the surface apposition of new mineral.