Premature Exfoliation of Deciduous Teeth in a Four-Year-Old Child with Hypophosphatemic Rickets

Background: Vitamin D is an essential hormone for calcium gut absorption. It is also involved in child growth, cancer prevention, immune system responses, and tooth formation. Vitamin D deficiency is a common cause of rickets, a condition that affects bone development in children and that can have serious dental complications. Case Report: The following article presents a case report of a 4 year old Tunisian child, diagnosed with Hypophosphatemic rickets. Clinical features include growth failure, frontal bulging and genu valgum. Dental examination revealed spontaneous loss of deciduous teeth in the absence of dental caries or trauma. Follow up: Two years on, we noted a markedly hypoplastic yellow to brownish enamel in the first permanent molars and permanent lower incisors. Conclusion: The purpose of this article is to report and discuss the dental alterations observed: spontaneous loss of teeth and hypoplastic structure of enamel. Indeed, our patient presents the second case reported in literature with periodontal breakdown associated to the hypophosphatemic rickets. Genetic and molecular testing is needed to verify this.