Key aspects of dental diagnostics and treatment specifics in ectodermal dysplasia patients: Comprehensive literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Pathogenesis of ectodermal dysplasia (ED) is explained by alterations occurring within derivates of ectoderm, caused by different genetic violations. Objectives: The aim of this study was to provide critical comprehensive literature review considering diagnostic and treatment specifics among dental patients with ED. Material and methods: Comprehensive literature search was provided via PubMed database (https://pubmed. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and Google Scholar search engine (https://scholar.google.com/). Systematized number of publications was evaluated as a subject of manual content analysis, categories of which included dental diagnostic and treatment aspects of patients with ED. . Results: Treatment approaches for remaining deciduous and permanent teeth under the condition of future prosthodontic rehabilitation planning differ in numbers of publications dedicated to the topic of dental care provision among ED patients. Such non-consistency could be explained by diversities in described prosthetic rehabilitation protocols, and initial variations of teeth’s form, structure, developmental stages, and their overall quantity registered during primary examination of ED dental patients, including possible alterations in enamel integrity, dispersions in pulp chamber volume, caries intensity levels, changes in root formation stages, and eruption phases during ED. Conclusions: The most prominent dental and oral signs of ED that potentially could be used as criteria for diagnostics with varying degree of diagnostic significance, include oligodontia, delayed eruption and development of teeth, changed tooth crown and/or root morphology, decreased salivary function, cleft lip and/or palate. However, there is no unified algorithm of ED dental patients’ rehabilitation, and planning of such should consider a number of initial clinical situation’s factors, ED manifestations, individual functional prognosis, and esthetic demands.