Disclosed herein are a class of compounds comprising peptides of the sequence (X-Y-Z)n, wherein X is an aminoacid selected from aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, alanine and glutamine, and Y and Z are amino acids selected from alanine, serine, threonine, phosphoserine, phosphothreonine, and their derivatives, These compounds have the property of binding tightly and specifically to calcified surfaces, making them useful for a variety of applications including remineralization of tooth and hone surfaces, diagnosis of hone and tooth defects, treatment of hone and tooth defects, and analysis of the presence and location of calcified deposits bothin vitro andin vivo andin industrial, synthetic, medical, dental, and research applications where identification, localization, or manipulation of calcification is desirable,
