Exfoliated primary teeth from a boy and a girl from a family with X-linked amelogenesis imperfecta (XAI) were studied by scanning electron microscopy. Teeth from the boy featured multiple shallow depressions on the enamel surface interspersed with deeper tubular voids. Shallow depressions and similar tubular defects were also apparent in control teeth from an unaffected individual but these were less frequent, irregularly distributed and less marked. Teeth from the heterozygous girl had broad furrows running longitudinally from the cusp(s) of the tooth cervically. These furrows were formed by a series of saucerized depressions which merged together in some areas. The bases of these depressions featured tubular voids extending into the enamel. These similar voids in teeth from both boy and girl probably represent enamel prism spaces vacant because of defective enamel protein synthesis and/or mineralization. Although the scanning electron microscopic features of teeth from females observed in this and previous studies of XAI differ, the enamel appears to be more similar in males with differing clinical XAI phenotypes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.