Prevalence of dental enamel defects in celiac patients with deciduous dentition:: a pilot study

Objective. to describe the prevalence of unspecific and systematic enamel defects in children with deciduous dentition diagnosed with celiac disease compared with a control group. Study design. Thirty children (mean age 3.6 yrs) diagnosed with celiac disease and a reference group (n = 30; mean age 3.8 yrs) were studied to determine the prevalence of enamel defects. Both groups had complete deciduous dentition. Unspecific and systematic enamel defects were evaluated according to Aine criteria. Results. Enamel defects were detected in 83.3% of the celiac children versus 53.3% of the control children (P = .025). The corresponding figures for symmetric defects were 73.3% and 23.3% (P < .001), respectively. The most frequent defect severity classification was Aine grade 1. Dental enamel defects were most frequently detected in deciduous molars (45.1%), followed by deciduous incisors. Conclusions. This study showed significantly more systematic enamel defects in children with celiac disease and deciduous dentition compared with a control group in the same stage of dentition. Dental examination of these defects may be useful to alert for this disease.