Prevalência de defeitos de desenvolvimento de esmalte na dentição decídua adquiridos na vida intrauterina Developmental enamel defects prevalency in primary dentition acquired in intrauterine life

This article aims to estimate the prevalence of developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in the primary dentition. A descriptive study witch 205 children 12-60 months born in Sao Luis, Brazil was developed. Clinical examination by oral interviews with officials and review of medical charts were made. For diagnosis and classification of DDE used the Modified Index of Develop mental Defects of Enamel and analyzed the frequency of the data. It was concluded that stipulate a frequency of enamel defects unique to the gestational phase is innovative and greatly contributes to reduce the conflict of results between studies examining the risk factors for the DDE, because it establishes a methodology that reduces errors in diagnosis in these studies.