Dentinogenesis imperfecta is a disorder of tooth development. This condition causes the teeth to be discolored (most often a blue-gray or yellow-brown color) and translucent. Teeth are also weaker than normal, making them prone to rapid wear, breakage, and loss. These problems can affect both primary (baby) teeth and permanent teeth.\n\nResearchers have described three types of dentinogenesis imperfecta with similar dental abnormalities. Type I occurs in people who have osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic condition in which bones are brittle and easily broken. Dentinogenesis imperfecta type II and type III usually occur in people without other inherited disorders. A few older individuals with type II have had progressive high-frequency hearing loss in addition to dental abnormalities, but it is not known whether this hearing loss is related to dentinogenesis imperfecta.\n\nSome researchers believe that dentinogenesis imperfecta type II and type III, along with a condition called dentin dysplasia type II, are actually forms of a single disorder. The signs and symptoms of dentin dysplasia type II are very similar to those of dentinogenesis imperfecta. However, dentin dysplasia type II affects the primary teeth much more than the permanent teeth.

In dentin dysplasia type I, both primary and secondary dentitions are affected. The color and general morphology of the teeth are usually normal, although they may be slightly opalescent and blue or brown. Teeth may be very mobile and exfoliate spontaneously because of inadequate root formation. On radiographs, the roots are short and may be more pointed than normal. Pulp chambers are usually absent except for a chevron-shaped remnant in the crown (Witkop, 1975). Root canals are usually absent. Periapical radiolucencies may be present at the apices of affected teeth, for reasons unknown. On light microscopic examination of the permanent teeth, the coronal dentin is normal, but further apically becomes irregular, fills the pulp chamber, and has a 'sand-dune' morphology. Scanning electron microscopic studies of the deciduous and permanent teeth have been reported (Sauk et al., 1972; Melnick et al., 1980). Subclassification of Dentin Dysplasia Type I O Carroll et al. (1991) and O Carroll and Duncan (1994) reviewed dentin dysplasia and proposed 4 subtypes of dentin dysplasia type I, which they designated as DD1a-d. In DD1a, there is complete obliteration of pulp chambers and no root development, with many periapical radiolucent areas. In DD1b, there are horizontal crescent-shaped radiolucent pulpal remnants and a few millimeters of root development, with many periapical radiolucent areas. DD1c shows 2 horizontal crescent-shaped radiolucent lines and significant but incomplete root development, with or without periapical radiolucent areas. DD1d is characterized by visible pulp chambers and oval pulp stones in the coronal third of the root canal with bulging of the root around the stones and few if any periapical radiolucent areas. The authors noted that the distinctions between the subtypes of DD1 were primarily useful clinically in terms of treatment options.