Enamel hypoplasia in the primary dentition: a review.

Clinical significance of enamel hypoplasia includes poor esthetics, tooth sensitivity, malocclusion and predisposition to dental caries. It may provide diagnostic clues as to genetic influences and systemic diseases, as well as to any trauma during the span of dental development. These systemic factors include birth trauma, infections, nutritional disorders, metabolic diseases, and exposures to chemicals such as tetracycline, lead, and fluoride. Inherited types form a relatively small component overall, including genetic abnormalities of enamel formation, or dental features of many inherited diseases or dysmorphic syndromes. Developmental enamel defects range in prevalence from 4 percent to 60 percent, depending on the criteria and the population studied. It is likely that many of these individual factors may in fact act through a central mechanism: mineral deficiency.