Difficulties in identifying developmental defects of the enamel: a BITA study.

AIM: To evaluate the ability to recognise different types of developmental defects of enamel (DDE) by a group of general dental staff, trained prior to the comprehensive prevalence study (the BITA study), and to compare their skills to that of an untrained group. To evaluate the validity and reliability of the DDE registrations and MIH diagnoses, 3 years after the BITA study ended. To evaluate the reliability of an MIH diagnose, 3 years after the study ended. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dental staff from five clinics (n = 43) was given instructions in identifying different types of DDE, according to the mDDE index (FDI in Int Dent J 42:411-426 1992). A test protocol with 24 digital photos of teeth with different DDE was filled out. The dental staff from five other clinics (n = 60), without preceding instructions, also filled out the protocol. Ninety-one patients with reported DDE were clinically re-examined 3 years later by two dentists with certified experience of DDE. RESULTS: When untrained dental staff filled out the test protocol, only 42% of the affected surfaces were correctly assessed, whereas 85% of the dental staff instructed in recognizing DDE made a correct assessment (p < 0.000). The specialists confirmed 73% of the teeth diagnosed with DDE in the BITA study as affected. The agreement in judging the opacities as diffuse or demarcated was 76%. One-fourth of those being judged to be affected by MIH in the BITA-study also showed to be affected by other enamel disturbances. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of the untrained dental staff to recognize DDE was insufficient. Instructions, using digital photos, raised the ability considerably. To ensure a correct MIH diagnosis, the patients should be followed until all the permanent teeth have erupted.

The prevalence of developmental defects of enamel, a prospective cohort study of adolescents in Western Sweden: a Barn I TAnadvarden (BITA, children in dental care) study.

AIM: To describe the prevalence of different types of developmental defects of the enamel (DDE) in varying age-cohorts and habitations, and to analyse if early trauma to the primary teeth and early subsequent serious health problems were related to DDE in the permanent dentition. Dental fear and anxiety, and aesthetic problems as a consequence of DDE were also investigated. METHODS: DDE was registered over 5 years annually in three age cohorts (796 children). The DDE index (FDI Commision on Oral Health, Research and Epidemiology, Int Dent J 42:411-426, 1992) was used. Information on diseases in early childhood, trauma to the primary teeth, and dental fear and anxiety were collected. RESULTS: The prevalence of DDE was 33.2% (boys 37.1%, girls 29.3%, p = 0.02). Demarcated opacities (DEO), solely, were the most frequent kind of defect, affecting 18%. Five percent (5%) had diffuse opacities (DIO) and 1% had hypoplasias, whereas 7% had teeth with both DEO and DIO. The most frequently affected teeth of DEO, as well as of DIO, were the first permanent molars and maxillary central incisors. Dental injuries to the primary anterior teeth raised the risk for DDE in the permanent teeth, but early serious health problems did not. Generalised DDE was common (8.4%). The paediatric dentists assessed the DDE in the maxillary anterior teeth as more serious than did the affected children and their parents. CONCLUSIONS: Generalised DDE was more frequent than expected, as well as the occurrence of both DEO and DIO in the same individual. The first permanent molars and the upper central incisors were the most affected teeth.