Prevalence of Developmental Defects of Enamel in the Dentition of Children

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of developmental defects of the enamel (DDE) and DMFT in the primary and permanent dentitions of a group of healthy children residing in Taif City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A total of 440 healthy children between the age range of 5-10 years were examined using modified DDE criteria for recording enamel defects and DMFT/dft also recorded, which later compared and statistically evaluated.
Results: Twenty-four children out of 440 had DDE with higher prevalence in the children around the age of 7-8 years and the occurrence of the DDE decreased on both sides of this age range. The mean of DMFT/dft according to age was 6.93 years old. The mean of DMFT/dft according to DDE was 10.33 in children with hypoplasia.
Conclusions: The incidence of DMFT/dft is increased with increasing of DDE, but none of the teeth affected with DDE were found carious. The prevalence of enamel defect was higher in mixed dentition rather than primary dentition.