Abstract
Deciduous teeth from 7 patients with dentinogenesis imperfecta (DI) Type I and Type II were examined by conventional microscopy. A defective layer was found which runs parallel with the dentinal surface in the outer portion of dentin in teeth of both types. Dentinal tubules were interrupted in the vicinity of this layer. When the ground sections were examined after being stained by the phosphophoryn staining method, the DI Type I dentin was found to contain phosphophoryn at the same low level as the DI Type II dentin, suggesting similar deficiency in phosphophoryn concentration. These results suggest that both types of DI have a common primary disturbance in the early stage of odontoblast differentiation.