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Why do chalky stains appear on children's teeth?
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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When blood albumin gets into underripe tooth enamel, its hardening processes can be disrupted, which provokes a reaction of molar-incisor demineralization. People call it "chalky teeth." This is the conclusion reached by scientists, employees of the Australian University of Melbourne and the Chilean University of Talca. The specialists recently published the results of their study on the pages of Frontiers in Physiology.
Dental hypo- and demineralization is a common disorder that is often diagnosed in pediatric dentistry. The problem is found in about 20% of children. In most cases, young patients complain of toothache, and parents note the appearance of grayish-white spots on the tooth surface and early development of caries.
Why does the destruction of the structures that form the enamel coating occur? How does the function of ameloblasts change – cells that secrete the proteins enamelin and amelogenin, which undergo mineralization, forming enamel – the hardest substance in the human body? These questions have been troubling the scientific world for many decades, but the pathogenesis has not yet been fully clarified.
In their new project work, the scientists seem to have come very close to clarifying the situation of the appearance of demineralization and chalky spots on the surface of teeth.
The researchers called the discovered pathogenetic scheme "mineralizing blockage". The process is caused by the local influence of blood albumin on the not fully matured enamel. The protein substance from the serum forms a bond with the mineral enamel crystals, which blocks the connection between calcium and phosphorus ions and the growth points.
Amelogenin, a protein involved in the formation of the enamel coating, must have a full length containing a C-terminal telepeptide. In dentistry, amelogenin is used as a medication for the treatment of periodontitis, an inflammatory pathology of the root sheath. There is also albumin that is resistant to the main protease, kallikrein-4, which is also involved in the processes of enamel hardening. Under the influence of kallikrein-4, amelogenin is destroyed, and albumin seems to stick to the crystals of the coating and is preserved, disrupting the hardening processes. As a result, visually clear chalky opacities of a local nature are formed. The trigger for the development of this molar-incisor disorder is most likely childhood diseases, in particular, those that are accompanied by a feverish rise in temperature.
The information found allows us to direct further research along the already established course. At least, scientists have positive prospects for starting to develop measures for prevention and determining a treatment regimen for chalky teeth.
More detailed information is available on the frontiersin page