Development of enamel defects in rat mandibular incisor after thyro-parathyroidectomy.

Previous studies with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated the presence of small hypoplastic defects in the incisal third of incisors and deep hypoplasia in the apical third of the incisors after thyro-parathyroidectomy in the rat. These studies provided a morphological description of the defects, but uncertainty remained concerning their development throughout amelogenesis. The aim of the present investigation was to study, with SEM operated in the backscattered mode, the development of the hypoplastic defects, from the beginning of the secretion to the end of the maturation zone of the enamel, in the lower incisor of thyroparathyroidectomized rats. The results of the present study showed that the large and small defects developed are separate entities that do not develop into the other. The distribution of large defects might be linked to a reduction of the eruption rate in these rats. The pathogenesis of these defects needs further investigation.