Aa
born without tooth enamel
My Grandson has no enamel on his baby teeth, and they suspect these might be his permanent teeth. He will be 4 March 6 and is a wonderful child. He talks and communicates, he is very athletic and also extremely caring. My son and daughter-in-law said they took him to a pediatrician today that said he might be "Autistic" because of the no enamel on his teeth?! I do not see any signs of Autisum.
I have read that enamel on teeth is usually genetic, his Mother has very little enamel on her teeth.
Please advise.
Sincerely yours,
Sally Jeisy
I have read that enamel on teeth is usually genetic, his Mother has very little enamel on her teeth.
Please advise.
Sincerely yours,
Sally Jeisy
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
There are genetic and non-genetic causes for enamel issues. We recommend that your grandchild meets with a medical geneticist, who is a doctor that specializes in genetic disorders. A medical geneticist will perform a physical exam as well as review the personal and family history to help determine if the cause is genetic in nature and address any concerns about additional problems such as autistic behaviours. An accurate diagnosis is important to help ensure proper treatment and management.
You can find a medical geneticist at the American College of Medical Genetics website. We wish you the best.
You can also find information on Dentinogenesis Imperfecta and Amelogenesis Imperfecta at AccessDNA.
You can find a medical geneticist at the American College of Medical Genetics website. We wish you the best.
You can also find information on Dentinogenesis Imperfecta and Amelogenesis Imperfecta at AccessDNA.
I have studied this, and have never heard of the lack of enamel being linked to Autism. It's usally something that did or didn't occur during development. He probably got this from his mother. Has he been to the dentist? Are they saying his baby teeth are his permanent teeth?
Thank you for your response, this has been immensely reassuring. I have raised 2 sons and this grandson seems perfectly normal to me. He has been to see a dentist and were told that all of his teeth need to be capped and some possibly root canals, this may be because his baby teeth are permanent. I will ask my son & daughter-in-law to this question.
Again, thank you.
sjeisy
Again, thank you.
sjeisy
As the mother of the child in question, I think it is necessary to get the true and actual facts in order, as the total misinformation provided would lead anyone far from the realm of reality. Our son has been diagnosed with a genetic disorder, or "glitch", if you will, by both a leading pediatric dentist and one of the foremost pediatricians in our country. The glitch, at this point, has only resulted in a disorder which we are all attempting to diagnose correctly, as there are two likely possibilities- one in Dentinogenesis Imperfecta, or Amelogenesis Imperfecta. Our wonderful pediatric dentist is currently working with doctors at USC Medical to ensure a correct diagnosis before addressing the problems with his teeth, which is all that we, his parents, are concerned with. In any case, his baby teeth have no enamel, are dark in color, are excessively wide spaced, and eroding rapidly- further deteriorated by a grinding habit he has had most of his life. Before these issues cause damage to his roots or gums, it will be necessary to cap the teeth to fend off further damage. He has no need for root canals at all- we were told that in some cases one or more teeth my continue to erode under the caps down the road, and if sensitivity is not addressed immediately, it might subsequently lead to the need for a root canal, someday, like any of us who do not care for our teeth. The caps are also absolutely necessary to provide correct spacing for his future adult teeth, which have never been in question of coming in. The only question with the adult teeth is whether or not they will be affected as well, and if so, how many will be affected. Only time will tell, and whatever happens, we will again address it correctly.
Now, as for autism, we have no inclination to believe that there is anything wrong with our child. He is a happy, incredibly healthy and immensely intelligent 3-year old. But as this disorder is genetic in factor, related to the x chromosome, and medical in nature, our dentist advised us correctly to have a complete general physical done with a panel work up, to see if there are visible signs that there might be other things attached to this "glitch". These genetic disorders have been linked to many other disorders, including autism, as a secondary disorder, but not in any way necessarily related. There can be problems with brittle bones or blue whites of the eyes, all sorts of things which are not a factor of our son's situation. As with any genetic glitch, whenever it actually occurred, it caused this problem with his teeth, may be singular, or there is always that possibility that other things may have been affected. We are very happy to say that his renowned pediatrician finds him as perfect as we do at this time, and certainly agrees with the prognosis. He simply wants to do exams every 6 months, rather than annually, to ensure that he continues on this path, and to have us journal anything that we question. All around, certainly a smart thing to say by a very smart man.
As for my teeth, I have incredibly good enamel and a healthy dental history- perfectly straight teeth without orthodontics and I have never needed more than general check-ups since I was a teenager. My only problem has been discoloration caused by due to public water floridation testing in a certain suburb of Long Beach, California where I spent a lot of time visiting my grandmother in the early 70's. There is no trace of any dental problems in my family history. I could have all my front teeth covered with veneers to make them as white as my bleached counterparts, (as bleaching has no effect upon floridation discoloring), but it has not been a necessity to me, or bothered me all that much- and apparently not as much as it seems to bother my Mother-in-Law!!!
Thank you for addressing the facts!
The Mother of the worlds two most Perfect Children!!!
Now, as for autism, we have no inclination to believe that there is anything wrong with our child. He is a happy, incredibly healthy and immensely intelligent 3-year old. But as this disorder is genetic in factor, related to the x chromosome, and medical in nature, our dentist advised us correctly to have a complete general physical done with a panel work up, to see if there are visible signs that there might be other things attached to this "glitch". These genetic disorders have been linked to many other disorders, including autism, as a secondary disorder, but not in any way necessarily related. There can be problems with brittle bones or blue whites of the eyes, all sorts of things which are not a factor of our son's situation. As with any genetic glitch, whenever it actually occurred, it caused this problem with his teeth, may be singular, or there is always that possibility that other things may have been affected. We are very happy to say that his renowned pediatrician finds him as perfect as we do at this time, and certainly agrees with the prognosis. He simply wants to do exams every 6 months, rather than annually, to ensure that he continues on this path, and to have us journal anything that we question. All around, certainly a smart thing to say by a very smart man.
As for my teeth, I have incredibly good enamel and a healthy dental history- perfectly straight teeth without orthodontics and I have never needed more than general check-ups since I was a teenager. My only problem has been discoloration caused by due to public water floridation testing in a certain suburb of Long Beach, California where I spent a lot of time visiting my grandmother in the early 70's. There is no trace of any dental problems in my family history. I could have all my front teeth covered with veneers to make them as white as my bleached counterparts, (as bleaching has no effect upon floridation discoloring), but it has not been a necessity to me, or bothered me all that much- and apparently not as much as it seems to bother my Mother-in-Law!!!
Thank you for addressing the facts!
The Mother of the worlds two most Perfect Children!!!
I'm 15, I also have/ was born with no enamal and Im a perfectly normal teenager. I have gone through root canal after root canal since I was about 3, I never seem to leave the dentist with no cavities :( all my life until this last year i was told by dentist's that it was all my fault that my teeth were so bad, until finally i got a new dentist and she told me it is actually genitic and there was nothing i could do about it, after that everything made since when it hit me that my father and now baby cousin have the same teeth as I. I just wish more people knew it was gentic because ill tell you what its really hard to go to school and day after day people talk about you and your "nasty teeth" its horrible and it never stops.
A related discussion, Born with no enamel on teeth was started.
A related discussion, tooth enamal was started.
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