Esthetic management of developmental enamel opacities in young permanent maxillary incisors with two microabrasion techniques--a split mouth study

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluated the effectiveness of two microabrasion materials for the removal of developmental enamel opacities in young permanent maxillary incisors.

Materials and methods: Using a split-mouth study design, 37% phosphoric acid and 18% hydrochloric acid were used for removal of visually unesthetic developmental enamel opacities of young permanent maxillary anterior teeth from 25 subjects (11-13 years old) by two microabrasion techniques for 10 and 5 seconds respectively. This procedure was repeated four to six times during each clinical appointment. The subjects were evaluated about their satisfaction with the treatment. Two blinded evaluators appraised both sides of the mouth using visual analog scale. The records were analyzed using Wilcoxon test.

Results: The majority of the subjects (approximately 97%) reported satisfaction at the end of the treatment (p = 0.001**). Statistical significant reduction in enamel opacities was observed by evaluators immediately after microabrasion technique in group 1 (81.75%) and in group 2 (81.4%) (p < 0.002). Reduction was increased to 97.2% in group 1 and 96.7% in group 2 after 1 month.

Conclusions: Both microabrasion techniques showed comparative highly significant successful results in esthetic management of enamel opacities clinically and in terms of subject's satisfaction.

Clinical significance: Developmental enamel defects like diffuse opacities due to high-fluoride content in water and demarcated opacities associated with positive dental history and are commonly seen in young permanent maxillary incisors of both boys and girls in their developing years. They are aware of unesthetic appearance of these newly erupted permanent anterior teeth and become highly motivated when informed about minimally invasive, patient friendly, cost-effective, and safe treatment like microabrasion for esthetic improvement. Both noninvasive microabrasion techniques using 37% phosphoric acid (group 1) and 18% hydrochloric acid (group 2) show comparatively high success results in treating enamel defects successfully to the subject's satisfaction along with their parents.