110 What causes pitted and defective enamel

What causes pitted and defective enamel?

Whether you realize it or not, you see tooth enamel every day and every time you look in the mirror. The outer layer of your teeth that is hard and white that protects the inner, more sensitive layers of teeth. When enamel is healthy and strong, the teeth should have a smooth, white appearance. When there is enamel hypoplasia present, the enamel is thinner than normal and the result can leave your teeth more susceptible to decay and chipping. In most instances, enamel hypoplasia leaves teeth with spots or indented pits on what should be the smooth surface of your teeth.

When tooth enamel is healthy, it is the hardest substance in your body, even harder than bones. Unlike your bones, enamel is not a living tissue so when it gets damaged, it can’t repair itself. If you think you have signs of enamel hypoplasia, then you should talk to the dentist about what you have noticed. Only a dentist can make the final determination that you have enamel hypoplasia and only a dentist can offer you treatments for it.

What causes it?
Enamel hypoplasia develops when the teeth are developing so it can affect just baby teeth and leave adult teeth without issue. Conversely, it can affect adult teeth when the baby teeth showed no signs. There are a variety of hereditary syndromes and conditions that can leave you with enamel hypoplasia, such as:
* Amelogenesis
* Seckel syndrome
* Ellis-van Creveld syndrome
* Usher syndrome
* Otodental syndrome
* Treacher syndrome
* Heimler syndrome
* 22q11 deletion syndrome or velocardiofacial syndrome
Many of these syndromes are rare and do not affect everyone who has enamel hypoplasia. There are prenatal conditions that can lead to enamel hypoplasia which include:
* Maternal drug use
* Maternal smoking
* Maternal excessive weight gain
* Maternal vitamin d deficiency
* Lack of prenatal care
* Premature birth
* Low birth weight
Finally, you can be free from syndromes, your mother can have a healthy pregnancy with proper care and nutrition, and you can still have enamel hypoplasia. The environmental factors that can lead to it include:
* Traumatic injury to the teeth
* Infection
* Vitamin A, C, or D deficiencies
* Jaundice or liver disease
* Calcium deficiency
* Celiac disease
* Cerebral palsy

By maintaining twice yearly dental appointments with proper brushing and flossing at home, you can help the dentist diagnose and treat the enamel problems without running the risk of worsening issues. The dentist will use different treatments to help avoid tooth decay, problems with your bite, maintaining strong tooth structures, and an overall healthy appearance. Even if your enamel hypoplasia is not causing you sensitivity or cavities yet, the dentist can offer treatments to prevent those from happening in the future.

No two cases of enamel hypoplasia are the same so there is not just one treatment option for everyone. The dentist may offer resin bonded sealants or fillings. This material is the same color as your teeth and does not require damage to the surrounding teeth or the healthy parts of the tooth. The dentist could also use an amalgam or gold material for the filling. If the tooth needs to protect more than a filling could provide, then the dentist will use a dental crown. Professional whitening could change the appearance of the tooth to help it match more closely to the other surrounding teeth. Finally, the dentist could use a microabrasion technique to help smooth the appearance of the surface of the tooth.