Tooth Decay Prevalence among Children with Somatotropin Hypopituitarism

Sa？etak The malfunction of pituitary gland can be one of the factors disturbing the growth and development of long bones and may have the adverse effect on the development of maxilla, mandible and dentition in children. The aim of the study was to assess the state of dentition by dental caries prevalence among children with short stature in comparison to healthy children. The examined group comprised 110 children who were hospitalized due to growth hormone deficiency and the control group consisted of 41 generally healthy children. To assess the condition of the teeth the mean DMFT index for permanent dentition and dmft index for primary dentition were used. In patients with short stature, the mean DMFT index was 5.0 and in the control group the mean DMFT index was 4.37. In patients with short stature, the average dmft index was 3.37 and in the control group, the mean dmft was 3.39. The prevalence of dental caries for permanent and milk dentition did not differ significantly between the group of children with growth hormone deficiency and the control group