What does Enamel Hypoplasia look like?
Dental enamel hypoplasia is the pathological condition of the lack of development of tooth enamel, which therefore presents a quantitative deficit and a lack of thickness in this important layer of a tooth. A patient suffering from enamel hypoplasia generally has complaints and problems of an aesthetic nature, but it can also have potential health risks that must be seriously considered. In fact, a series of risk factors for other diseases are connected to enamel hypoplasia, which could be facilitated by the enamel defect and its consequences. It is therefore important to understand what this disease looks like and to seek treatment to prevent a worsening of the patient's clinical condition and to remedy the aesthetic, daily life, and health problems associated with hypoplasia. In order to choose the best treatment to intervene on symptoms and causes, it is advisable to use a team that includes specialists in dentistry and endodontics.
Dental enamel hypoplasia: types and causes
We speak of dental hypoplasia if, during the mineralization phases of the development of the tooth enamel layer covering the tooth, certain conditions have occurred which have led to a defective production of enamel. The result is a tooth surface that presents imperfections in the shape of individual teeth or in calcification, also putting the dentin and the underlying layers at risk. Indeed, after causing problems with the dentin, hypoplasia of the enamel can also compromise the dental pulp causing damage to the deciduous or permanent teeth.
In general, in the patient suffering from hypoplasia, enamel defects are different to every individual: therefore, there are no “normal” characteristics of the condition, and some teeth have a higher degree of hypoplasia than others. In particular, the incisors and the first molars are the teeth usually most affected and suffer the most visible aesthetic defects of hypoplasia.
In the appearance of the teeth, the first sign that indicates the presence of hypoplasia is the fact that there are areas of color other than the common white in the dentition. These are most commonly zones and spots between brown and dull white. The tooth surface is abnormal, and may be either pitted and discontinuous, or hard and smooth. These differences can also be observed between one tooth and another in the same patient. These conditions, which seem merely aesthetic at first, can easily become risk factors for the development of other pathologies, since the deficient enamel is more delicate than the healthy one, therefore it tends to more easily erode over time. Patients with this condition are at greater risk for dental problems and must take extra care of their teeth to avoid complete deterioration of their enamel. The enamel can be further damaged, for example, due to nutrition (a diet rich in sugar or acidic foods and drinks), vices such as tobacco smoke, or incorrect habits such as brushing teeth too forcefully. It is well-known that these outside factors harm even the enamel of patients who do no have enamel hypoplasia, so those with the condition must be extra vigilant. Furthermore, porous or underdeveloped enamel, combined with the greater difficulty of cleaning at home, favors the accumulation of plaque, with a consequent greater onset of another pathology affecting the teeth, above all caries.
Reach out to learn about dental bonding, a potential treatment option for hypoplasia.