Distribution of Enamel Defects and the Association with Respiratory Distress in Very Low Birthweight Infants

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Abstract
Although dental defects have long been observed among surviving pre-term infants, only few systematic studies address this problem. In a clinic limited to recall of infants of very low birthweight (2 = 28.0, p < 0.01). Furthermore, hypoplasia was more common in maxillary incisors than in mandibular incisors (X2 = 48.4, p < 0.01). In infants with dental defects, there was no significant correlation with pregnancy risk factors, gestational age, birth weight, septicemia, first-week caloric intake, serum bilirubin, or calcium. Infants with enamel hypoplasia were more likely, however, to have severe respiratory distress syndrome (X2 = 7.2, p < 0.01), than infants with unaltered enamel. Central incisor edge involvement may indicate post-natal processes and/or a systemic disturbance extending back to the middle trimester of pregnancy.