Regional Odontodysplasia: Report of a case

Abstract

Regional odontodysplasia is a rare dental anomaly affecting both primary and adult dentitions in the maxilla or mandible or both jaws, whilst involvement of the maxilla is more common [1-2]. In most cases, one quadrant is affected. One of the characteristics of this anomaly is discolored and soft teeth that can be accompanied by swelling or abscess. In this anomaly, enamel and dentin are thin and hypoplastic, therefore, the teeth give the impression of “ghost teeth” [2, 8]. In radiography, the delineation between enamel and dentin is not clear and pulp chamber is wide. Histologically, areas of hypocalcified enamel are observed and the enamel prisms appear to be irregular in direction [2]. There is a disturbance in dentin formation and dentinal tubules are reduced in number. The etiology of regional odontodysplasia is still unknown [8]. Managements of these cases should be based on the esthetics and functional needs as well as the degree of involvement.This report describes a case of regional odontodysplasia in a 3.5 year old Iranian girl whose chief complaint was the abscess formation in the left maxillary primary molar region. This case study aims to report the clinical and radiological findings of the current case.