ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the role of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) during human tooth germ development.Method: bFGF expression was exmined with immmunohistochemical technique in bud stage,cap stage and bell stage of human tooth germ from aborted embryo of 7,8,10 and 14 weeks.Results: At the bud stage of human tooth development, bFGF was expressed in most dental epithelium cells,and few condensed mesenchymal cells.At the cap stage ,bFGF was weakly expressed.At the bell stage,bFGF was strongly expressed in the inner enamel epithelium layer and dental papillary cells near inner enamel epithelia,weakly in the stellate reticulum.Conclusion:During human tooth development,bFGF plays an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of dental epithelium.