The reduced enamel epithelium, sometimes called reduced dental epithelium, overlies a developing

Tooth development

Tooth development or odontogenesis is the complex process by which teeth form from embryonic cells, grow, and erupt into the mouth. Although many diverse species have teeth, non-human tooth development is largely the same as in humans...

 tooth

Tooth

Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...

 and is formed by two layers: a layer of ameloblast

Ameloblast

Ameloblasts are cells, present only during tooth development, that deposit tooth enamel, the hard outermost layer of the tooth that forms the chewing surface....

 cells

Cell (biology)

The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....

 and the adjacent layer of cuboidal cells (outer enamel epithelium) from the dental lamina

Dental lamina

The dental lamina is a band of epithelial tissue seen in histologic sections of a developing tooth. The dental lamina is first evidence of tooth development and begins at the sixth week in utero or three weeks after the rupture of the buccopharyngeal membrane. It is formed when cells of the oral...

. As the cells of the reduced enamel epithelium degenerate, the tooth is revealed progressively with its eruption into the mouth

Mouth

The mouth is the first portion of the alimentary canal that receives food andsaliva. The oral mucosa is the mucous membrane epithelium lining the inside of the mouth....

. The degeneration of reduced enamel epithelium also mediates the initial epithelial

Epithelium

Epithelium is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. Epithelial tissues line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body, and also form many glands. Functions of epithelial cells include secretion, selective...

attachment to the tooth.

The Reduced Enamel Epithelium (REE) consist of

• Inner Enamel Epithelium
• Outer Enamel Epithelium