Amelogenesis imperfecta: a scanning electron microscopic and microradiographic study

The aim of the present study was to use scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to visualize the morphology of the enamel surface in 12 primary teeth from children with amelogenesis imperfecta (AI). The observations were correlated to genetic, clinical and microradiographic data from the same teeth and to non-affected control teeth. SEM showed similar disturbances in teeth with a clinical predominance of hypoplasias and in teeth with a predominance of hypomineralization. In the microradiographs the enamel of most teeth showed both hypoplasias and areas of hypomineralization, independently of the predominant clinical manifestation. In the one boy with an X-linked inheritance pattern, both SEM and microradiography showed the morphology of the enamel to be unique in the present study. In the other teeth, similar manifestations were found in cases with AI as an AD trait and in the sporadic cases.