Advances in Dental Research, Vol 3, 114-119, Copyright © 1989 by International & American Associations for Dental Research
Prevalence of developmental defects of tooth enamel (DDE) in a pediatric hospital department of dentistry population (1)
R. K. Hall
This paper reports the first part of a three-part study of developmental
defects of tooth enamel in a pediatric hospital population. The dental
records of 8411 children who were discharged from the Department of
Dentistry at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, between
1960 and 1987 were divided into an experimental group of 7518 patients
comprising 25 groups of medical conditions, and a control group of 893
children who had dental disorders only. The aim of the study was to
investigate the prevalence of hypoplastic and severe-opacity developmental
defects of tooth enamel (DDE), in children and adolescents with major
medical disorders, and to compare the prevalence with that in the control
group of normal children. The prevalence figures obtained for the different
medical conditions in this study agreed generally with those of other
recent investigators. The high prevalence of defects found in Rubella
Embryopathy children (81.8%) and in children with Prematurity alone (56.5%)
is surprising, whereas the prevalence of 27.9% defects in Clefts of Lip and
Palate and 26.4% defects in Clefts of Lip and Alveolus are probably well
below the true prevalence. The control group prevalence was 9.3%, which is
higher than in some other studies of 'normal' children. A pediatric
hospital is a most useful source of fully documented medical and dental
histories for the investigation of possible relationships between medical
disorders and developmental defects of tooth enamel. The control group
prevalence was 9.3%, which is higher than in some other studies of normal
children. A pediatric hospital is a most useful source of fully documented
medical and dental histories for the investigation of possible
relationships between medical disorders and developmental defects of tooth
enamel.