Comparison of the chemical composition of normal enamel from exfoliated primary teeth and teeth affected with early childhood caries: an in vitro study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the chemical composition of enamel from teeth with early childhood caries (unaffected fragments) and from healthy primary teeth.

Design: Forty exfoliated primary teeth (Group I) and 40 teeth affected with ECC (Group II) were collected. Unaffected enamel from the ECC group was sampled. Elemental analysis was carried out with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), following which the same tooth samples were subjected to amino acid analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in the percentage of phosphorus (P) and the Ca/P ratios between the two groups in the elemental analysis. Amino acid analysis revealed no significant difference in the amino acid profile and the quantity of amino acid or protein content between the two groups.

Conclusions: This study showed significant differences in the P content and Ca/P ratio between the enamel from teeth with ECC and in that from healthy primary teeth. These findings indicate that differences in the composition of enamel could be a risk factor for ECC.