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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the British Columbia Neurofibromatosis Foundation and the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Telethon award. We would like to extend special thanks to all study participants.
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On NF1 and dental caries
Vivian Visnapuua,c, Kaisu Pienihäkkinend, Sirkku Peltonenb, Risto-Pekka Happonenc,d, and Juha Peltonena,b
aDepartment of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, FIN 20520 Turku, Finland
bDepartment of Dermatology, University of Turku, P.O. BOX 52, FIN 20521 Turku, Finland
cDepartment of Oral Diseases, Turku University Central Hospital, Lemminkäisenkatu 2, FIN 20520 Turku, Finland
dInstitute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Lemminkäisenkatu 2, FIN 20520 Turku, Finland
The Letter to the Editor by Tsang et al. was prompted in part by our recent article Neurofibromatosis 1 and dental caries (Visnapuu et al., Clin Oral Invest). In this report, we showed that increased caries is not a characteristic feature of NF1. The conclusions were drawn from the clinical examination by a dentist of 110 patients with NF1. Fifty of these were under 20 years of age. The findings of the young NF1 patients were compared to a large population database which represents the whole Finnish population under 18 years. Our results were contradictory to findings reported earlier (Tucker et al. 2007). This discrepancy has prompted Tsang et al. to collect data by dental examination of 18 patients with NF1 and their unaffected siblings. The statistics of the study by Tsang et al. also favor the new understanding that caries is not more common in NF1 than in controls. Thus, we do not see the new results from Canada being contradictory to our results. The noted differences in the dental health between the Finnish and Canadian patients can be explained by the special attention to the preventive dental care in Finland. All young age groups in our study have been subjected to well-organized preventive dental care, which has been effective since the late 1970s. Specific attention has been paid to the children who have chronic diseases or developmental delays. The discussion on dental caries in NF1 is extremely valuable not only for the sake of the patients with NF1 but also because of other rare diseases potentially affecting the ability of the patients to take care of their oral hygiene. We are pleased that our work has attracted attention and stimulated re-evaluation of this issue.
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Tsang, E.S., Birch, P., Friedman, J.M. et al. Prevalence of dental caries in children with neurofibromatosis 1. Clin Oral Invest 14, 479–480 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-009-0361-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-009-0361-6