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Dental Caries, Developmental Defects of the Enamel and Dental Fluorosis in 9-Year-Olds of Igboora, Ibarapa Central Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Afolabi B O

The WHO has defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Dental caries, developmental defects of the enamel (DDE) and dental fluorosis are oral health conditions that affect the overall health and wellbeing of an individual.

Developmental defects of the enamel (DDE) have been defined as disturbances in hard tissue matrices and their mineralization that arise during odontogenesis. According to their clinical appearances, DDEs have been classified as demarcated opacity, diffuse opacity or hypoplasia (Fédération Dentaire Internationale Working Group, 1992).

Dental caries (which can result from developmental defects of the enamel) is a disease process resulting in the demineralisation of dental hard tissues by microbial activity. It is a readily preventable disease and can be arrested or reversed in its early stages (Kidd et al, 1997).

Caries is a multifactorial disease with an interplay of many factors such as the host microflora, substrate (food), tooth susceptibility, time and host saliva. Many modifications of this interplay have evolved (Fitzgerald et al, 1986).

Dental fluorosis (DF) refers to changes in the appearance of tooth enamel that are caused by long-term ingestion of fluoride during the time teeth are forming (Aoba et al, 2002). Dental fluorosis is observed in specific geographical areas in the world showing an endemic epidemiological pattern affecting millions of people (Cintra-Viveiro and De la Fuente- Hernández, 2017).