Enamel defects

Defects of congenital tooth enamel (as you well hypothesize), aka enamel hypoplasia, is a disease that is not dangerous but difficult to resolve without the removal of the compromised tissue.

Question: My second daughter is 12 months old. Nine months after the two lower incisors she ‘placed’ the 2 upper incisors with the lateral ones almost simultaneously. Now, the upper incisors, unlike the others, in the area where they chew, have areas of a different color from the ‘nice’ white that the other teeth usually have. As if they lacked polish. We don’t give the baby anything sweet, I mean sugar, honey, or chamomile. I don’t remember how long but we also give her some fluoride tablets. Can she be of any use? Now that she eats almost anything like we do, could she be having tooth decay problems? Who can I have it checked by?

Answer: A dental examination is definitely recommended. In addition to caries (a little too early), it could be congenital defects of the dental enamel (as you well hypothesize), a non-dangerous but difficult to solve disorder that predisposes the teeth to future caries. The defect will not necessarily recur in the final teeth. Enamel defects range from simple defects in color and structure (hypoplasia) to severe damage (amelogenesis imperfecta, etc ..), but they are quite rare in deciduous teeth.

Most of the minor enamel defects, such as hypoplasia, are due to a mineralization defect that occurred during the formation of the tooth, in fact they are frequent on the incisors and on the first molars that have coincident formation periods. Sometimes they are due to the use of antibiotics such as amoxicillin, other times they are consequences of trauma on deciduous teeth. Maybe you are interested in this

In other cases, defects in the enamel may be due to demineralization. In these cases, after having transilluminated the tooth to try to visualize the thickness involved, one can try with resinous infiltrations in the enamel. Of course the first thing, however, is to understand the reason that it could be incorrect eating habits or congenital deficits.

Making a diagnosis is very difficult without seeing the baby. I recommend a visit to a pediatric dentist (pedodontist) or an orthodontist as soon as possible.

References:

Clinical diagnosis of enamel defects: pitfalls and practical guidelines