![]() Note that these broken-down surfaces (potholes) often start out being simply the result of Molar Hypomin and have nothing to do with dental caries (i.e. In severe cases, such as the badly affected 6-year molar ( lower picture), the chalky enamel is a creamy brown colour and so soft that a large " pothole" has formed even before the tooth has finished erupting. suffer "breakdown") as seen in the right front tooth in the top picture. In moderate cases, the Hypomin enamel has more colour than normal (typically creamy-yellow) and the surface might have started to crumble (i.e. In mildly affected teeth, the defective enamel is usually "extra white" and the tooth surface is hard and intact (although perhaps a little duller than normal), as can be seen in the middle picture – those back teeth are the 1-year and 2-year molars in a 4-year-old. You can tell a lot about how bad the Molar Hypomin is just from its appearance. This picture also shows how the problem affects some teeth but not others – whereas the two middle front teeth ( central incisors) are really chalky, the next teeth outside them ( lateral incisors) are both fine. In contrast, opacities associated with excessive fluoride have a more diffuse appearance (i.e. The defective patches usually have quite obvious boundaries with normal enamel which is why dental people refer to them as "demarcated opacities". Molar Hypomin is easy to recognise when it also affects the front teeth – as seen in this bad case in a 10-year-old ( top picture), the Hypomin enamel appears more opaque than normal and its colour may range from unnaturally "extra white" through creamy yellow to brown. "chalkiness" which can cause problems, as we explain below. "Hypomineralisation" is just a technical way of saying "abnormally low amounts of calcium mineral" – in other words, "Hypomin" describes tooth enamel that is often soft and porous ( chalky) rather than hard and shiny white as normal. Sometimes in badly affected children their adult front teeth ( incisors) can have this problem too, in which case you may hear the clinical term "Molar-Incisor Hypomineralisation" or its abbreviation "MIH" used (we generally avoid using this term for scientific, clinical, public health & translational reasons, as explained here). Other molars can also be affected including the "2-year molars" in toddlers and the adult "12-year molars" (each about half as frequently as 6-year molars, see here). Molars of course are back teeth and those most prone to this type of D3 are the "6-year molars" – otherwise known as the first "adult" or "permanent" molars whose eruption into the mouth typically occurs at 6–7 years of age. What does the name mean?Īs the name implies, a key feature of Molar Hypomin is that it’s quite selective for certain teeth. Moreover, for those of you interested in reading the academic literature, we have a bibliography of Molar Hypomin studies here. To learn about the worldwide impacts of Molar Hypomin, go to the COMMUNITY section for more detail on how common and burdensome it is, and then visit Social Impact to see how D3G's pioneering activities are making a world of difference. Learn more about the basics of Molar Hypomin on this page, and then consult other pages in this FAMILIES section for straight-forward FAQs and guidance on how to get advice and treatment, take care at home, and support this under-nourished aspect of global health. become medically preventable), once scientists figure out what causes it – and that’s an exciting quest many families are helping us with. On the bright side however there is good reason to expect this widespread problem may eventually go away (i.e. "Molar Hypomin" is short for "Molar Hypomineralisation" (the technical term for Chalky Molars), a very troublesome D3 that causes lots of suffering and costs around the world.
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