The absence of correlations between a clinical classification and ultrastructural findings in amelogenesis imperfecta

Abstract

This study was performed to examine whether a clinical classification of different phenotypes of amelogenesis imperfecta could be discernible at the ultrastructural level. Seventeen primary teeth from 16 children with hypomineralization, hypomaturation, or hypoplastic variants of the disease were collected for histologic studies of the enamel by means of polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Polarization microscopy showed that the enamel was hypomineralized; in six teeth a wavy configuration of the enamel prisms also appeared. Three histomorphologic main types could be discerned. In 10 of the teeth extensive hypomineralization of the bulk of the enamel was found. One tooth had an unusually thick enamel with only a thin normally mineralized surface layer. SIMS images showed less pronounced signals from Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ but with stronger signals from CI and CN, representing the organic component of enamel. The SEM images showed an irregular prism pattern with marked interprismatic areas. Irrespective of the clinical appearance or the hereditary pattern the main findings were hypomineralized enamel with or without wavy bands. Neither of the analytical methods used in this paper distinguishes between the clinical phenotypes of amelogenesis imperfecta.