MOREIRA, Francine do Couto Lima    GONCALVES, Ilda Machado Fiuza. Natal teeth and Riga-Fede disease. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) []. 2010, 58, 2, pp. 257-261. ISSN 1981-8637.

Natal teeth are those present in the oral cavity at birth with unknown etiology. Generally, one or two teeth can appear in the mandibular incisor region and lead to Riga-Fede disease, which is characterized by an ulcer on the ventral surface of the tongue caused by the trauma due to this early tooth, affecting the child's ability to suckle. Patient HNS, a two-month-old female, was taken by her mother to a pediatric dental clinic because she could not suckle. A complete interview was done, in which mother reported the presence of teeth in the child's oral cavity and an ulcer on the tongue. Clinical examination revealed two teeth in the mandibular central incisor region and Riga-Fede disease. Radiographs revealed that those teeth were not supranumerary, but teeth 71 and 81. It was decided that they would remain in the oral cavity since they were the deciduous teeth and were well implanted. Treatment consisted of rounding the incisal edges of the teeth with a Sof-Lex^® (3M ESPE, St Paul, Mn, USA) disc, followed by application of a fluorine varnish. Additionally, V.A.S.A. should be applied on the ulceration before breastfeeding and Orabase Oncilon A^® (B-MF, São Paulo, Brasil) given three times a day for four days. Ten days later, the child returned for a follow-up visit. The ulcer had disappeared and the approach proved to be indicated and efficient.

: natal teeth; pediatric dentistry; oral ulcer.