Dental defects and rubella embryopathy: a clinical study of fifty children

Abstract

This study reports the results of the clinical examination of fifty 2 1/2 year old children with congenital defects attributed to infection with prenatal rubella. The results were compared with the results of the clinical examination of fifty normal 2 to 3 year old children. The children with congenital defects attributed to in utero rubella infection had a significantly lower (p<.005) weight at birth and at 2 1/2 years of age. These findings, along with the type and distribution of congenital defects, are in agreement with other reports of children with confirmed rubella embryopathy. The fifty children with rubella embryopathy had a significantly (p<.005) higher incidence of dental defects. Of the rubella children studied, 90 per cent had enamel hypoplasia, 78 per cent had tapered teeth, and 18 per cent had notched anterior teeth. Among the normal children studied, 26 per cent had enamel hypoplasia, 18 per cent had tapered teeth, and none had notched teeth. No other dentofacial abnormalities other than a cleft of the lip and palate in one rubella child were found.