The Relationship between Gestational Diabetes, Enamel Hypoplasia and DMFT in Children: A Clinical Study in Southern Iran

Background: Odontogenesis begins from the sixth week of fetal life; meanwhile, the subsequent evolution is very complex and takes a long time. As a part of odontogenesis, amelogenesis can be altered by local and systemic factors. Systemic factors include the change of and reduction in tissue oxygenation, metabolic disorders, gamma ray, fever, infections, as well as vitamin A&D deficiency. There are few investigations demonstrating the effect of gestational diabetes on enamel defects. The current study aims to compare enamel hypoplasia and DMFT (Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth) index of children born to diabetic mothers with gestational diabetes with those of healthy mothers.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 50 children born to diabetic mothers aged between 3 and 12 were selected as the study group and 50 age- matched children with healthy mothers as the control one. The presence of enamel hypoplasia, the involved surfaces and DMFT index were recorded.

The data were collected and analyzed using SPSS software version 15, NPar, Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square tests.

Results: The results obtained from the current study revealed that the prevalence of enamel hypoplasia and mean DMFT index in children of diabetic mothers was significantly higher than in the control group p=0.03.

Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of enamel hypoplasia and mean DMFT in children of gestational diabetic mothers were significantly higher than that of the controls.