Do your teeth hurt when you brush your teeth? They are blotchy and appear rough? It could be chalk teeth. Dentists warn of the new “widespread disease”, which primarily affects children and young people. The experts also have a theory as to why chalk teeth are so common among us.Chalking teeth – also known as molar incisive hypomineralization (MIH) – are uncomfortable: teeth hurt when eating, drinking or brushing teeth, and they also hurt with very hot or cold drinks. They also look ugly: they have furrows and are sometimes whitish, yellowish or even brownish in color.
The “German Society for Dental, Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine” (DGZMK) now warns of the disease: About 10 to 15 percent of all children are said to be affected, with twelve-year-olds it is even more: almost every third child (30 percent) have chalk teeth. In the current dental report from BARMER, the health insurance company now comes to the conclusion that nationwide at least 450,000 children have chalk teeth. This corresponds to about eight percent of all six to twelve year olds. MIH is even more common in this age group than tooth decay. The DGZMK therefore speaks of a new widespread disease. The chalk teeth are not only unaesthetic and painful, the rough surface also makes them particularly susceptible to caries.
Possible causes of chalking teeth
Chalking teeth occur because the mineralization of the tooth enamel is disturbed. The reason for this is not yet entirely clear. Environmental toxins such as plastics such as bisphenol A (BPA), which are ingested with food, among other things, seem to play a key role in the development. At least that’s what the DGZMK reports in a press release. Problems during pregnancy, infectious diseases, antibiotics, chickenpox are also conceivable as causes.
Associated with antibiotic use
One cause of chalking teeth that is debated is taking antibiotics. The health insurance company BARMER explained in their dental report that chalking teeth are caused or at least promoted by taking antibiotics. Prof. Dr. Christoph Straub, CEO of the health insurance company, said: “Prescribing antibiotics has a recognizable connection with the occurrence of chalk teeth. However, it is still unclear exactly how this interaction works. Further investigations are needed here.”
We take antibiotics to fight serious diseases – often there is no alternative. But they are just one of the possible causes of chalk teeth. However, further scientific studies are required here in order to have certainty, explains the DGZMK President, Prof. Dr. Roland Frankenberger (Marburg University). In everyday life, children and adults also come into much greater contact with other substances that can also lead to tooth disease – although that doesn’t have to be the case. These include, for example, BPA.
BPA changes the hormonal balance
BPA is one of the most commonly used synthetic chemicals in the world. The problem: It acts like a kind of hormonal pollutant because it has an estrogen-like effect and changes the hormone balance.
BPA is extremely difficult to avoid in everyday life – it is in packaging, plastic dishes, plastic pacifiers, food and beverage cans. In humans, studies have found BPA in blood, urine, amniotic fluid and uterine tissue.
Another cause revealed
Michael Hubbard from the University of Melbourne and his colleagues uncovered the latest findings on chalk teeth. They studied tooth enamel formation and found that the protein amelogenin is produced by the enamel-forming cells and forms the still small mineral crystals in the enamel. When tooth enamel hardens, an enzyme breaks down the protein amelogenin. This allows the mineral crystals to grow.
With chalk teeth, the degradation does not work as it should. The soft, discolored areas on chalk teeth contain three to 15 times more protein than is normal for finished, hardened tooth enamel, as the researchers found out. During the mineralization of the enamel, the protein was evidently not broken down sufficiently. The excess proteins mean that the tooth enamel is not mineralized and the tooth enamel cannot harden.
Serum protein prevents mineralization
But how is it that the proteins are not broken down? The researchers found the serum protein albumin in affected areas of the tooth – a molecule that does not occur in intact tooth enamel. This mimics amelogenin by attaching itself to immature tooth enamel crystals, thereby preventing the mineralization otherwise caused by amelogenin.
For better teeth: Avoid BPA in early childhood
Although relatively little is known about the development of chalk teeth, the authors of the dental report assume that diet does not influence the development of chalk teeth.
However, it is known that tooth enamel develops between the eighth month of pregnancy and the child’s fourth year of life, so the mineralization disorder must also occur during this time. The new findings on the lack of mineralization due to a lack of amelogenin also point to the development in early childhood.
It is therefore particularly important to avoid BPA as much as possible, especially during this period. Tips on this: Where Bisphenol A (BPA) is found and how to avoid it. Although MIH is primarily a childhood disease, it can also occur in adulthood. The molars and central incisors are often affected.
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