The Psychosocial Impacts of Developmental Enamel Defects in Children and Young People

Abstract

Within pediatric healthcare, increasing importance is being placed on the patient’s own experience of illness and related treatments. Clearly there is a need for dentists to also appreciate how various oral conditions may impact on their young patients. The dental literature has a long tradition of epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory research relating to developmental defects of enamel (DDE). Psychosocial research, however, is a more recent line of enquiry, and one that is still in its infancy, particularly where children and young people are concerned. In this chapter we will consider how disturbances in enamel formation can affect the appearance and function of teeth which, in turn, can impact on an individual’s emotions and social interactions. In addition, the need for patients to undergo, sometimes complex and prolonged, courses of treatment may bring its own positive or negative effects. We will first broadly consider the various approaches that can be used to gain insight into children’s perspectives of oral conditions and dental treatment. The psychosocial impacts of DDE will then be described in terms of how they affect the individual, how dental interventions affect the individual, and, lastly, how others view young people with DDE.