MACEDO-COSTA, Maria Regina; PASSOS, Isabela Albuquerque; OLIVEIRA, Andressa Feitosa Bezerra    CHAVES, Ana Maria Barros. Ability of pediatric and general dentists to diagnose and treat enamel defects. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) []. 2010, 58, 3, pp. 339-343. ISSN 1981-8637.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge of pediatric dentists and general practitioners on the diagnosis and treatment of enamel defects in patients from the city of João Pessoa, state of Paraíba. METHODS: A total of 25 pediatric dentists and 56 general dentists registered at the Regional Dental Council of João Pessoa were interviewed. Two clinical cases were presented to them for them to diagnose and suggest treatment. RESULTS: The percentage of correct diagnoses for the clinical cases presented to the dentists was low: only 4.9% of the dentists correctly diagnosed opacity and 19.8% correctly diagnosed hypoplasia (p>0.05). As for treatment, only 4.07% of the interviewed dentists proposed a correct treatment for opacity and 87.7% proposed a correct treatment for hypoplasia (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Dental care professionals that work with children need to update their knowledge on the diagnosis and treatment of enamel defects because these are very relevant factors that predispose the child early to caries lesions.

: dental caries; tooth deciduous; dental emanel.