A comparison of the prevalence of dental enamel defects and other oral findings in children with and without celiac disease

Abstract

Background: Dental enamel defects and other oral manifestations are reported to occur more commonly in children with celiac disease (CD). Our aim was to investigate the frequency and distribution of enamel defects and dental caries, and the presence of other oral findings in children with CD and to compare them to a group of children without CD. Methods: From 200 index cases with CD, 65 cases aged between three to 16 years accepted to participated in the study after an oral explanation for the parents. In addition, 60 healthy, age, and sex matched subjects without CD were chosen as control group. Enamel defects were classified according to the Aine criteria and dental caries was recorded by calculation of DMFT/dmft indices. The presence of other oral findings, such as aphthous ulcers and xerostomia, were recorded. Chi-Square test and Mann-Whitney test were used for comparison of data. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 65 children with CD and 60 non-CD subjects were studied. There were significantly more enamel defects in children with CD compared to the control group (P = 0.01). Grade I was the most common enamel defect in both groups. Symmetric and non-specific enamel defects were observed in 45% and 14% of CD subjects and in 12% and 12% of the control group (P = 0.001). The location of enamel defects in permanent and deciduous teeth was more prominent in anterior teeth with a coronal distribution involving the incisor and middle parts of the teeth. The dmft index was significantly higher in the control group compared to the CD group (P = 0.003). With the exception of xerostomia, there was no difference in other oral manifestations between groups. Conclusions: Enamel defects are more common in children with CD compared to those without this disease. This finding should alert health care providers to consider testing for CD.