{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T13:41:41Z","timestamp":1780926101612,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,16]],"date-time":"2022-11-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1668556800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca\u2013Ecuador"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Developmental defects of enamel (DDEs) are widely observed in children and are related to the appearance of dental caries, malocclusion, tooth sensitivity, and unfavorable esthetic conditions. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of enamel defects present in children aged 6 to 12 years in the provinces located in southern Ecuador. A total of 1606 schoolchildren were examined under the World Health Organization criteria for diagnosis of DDEs. The results are presented using percentage frequency measures and chi-square associations. Some types of DDEs were presented by 50% of the schoolchildren, mainly diffuse opacity, with no statistical differences according to place of residence and\/or environment, sex, and age (p &gt; 0.05). In Ecuador, it is necessary to carry out studies on the factors that trigger enamel defects, since they may be associated with the high prevalence of caries already reported in other studies in the country.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children9111755","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,16]],"date-time":"2022-11-16T02:27:34Z","timestamp":1668565654000},"page":"1755","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Developmental Enamel Defects in Children from the Southern Region of Ecuador"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7002-9990","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eleonor","family":"V\u00e9lez-Le\u00f3n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain"},{"name":"Academic Unit of Health and Wellness, Faculty of Dentistry, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador"},{"name":"Innovation and Pharmaceutical Development in Dentistry Research Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Head of Research and Innovation, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6857-7629","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Albaladejo-Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6168-3218","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edisson-Mauricio","family":"Pacheco-Quito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Academic Unit of Health and Wellness, Faculty of Dentistry, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador"},{"name":"Innovation and Pharmaceutical Development in Dentistry Research Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Head of Research and Innovation, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Armas-Vega","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Hemisferios University, Quito 170527, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5586-2829","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andr\u00e9s","family":"Delgado-Gaete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Academic Unit of Health and Wellness, Faculty of Dentistry, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dom\u00e9nica","family":"Pes\u00e1ntez-Ochoa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Public Health, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1120-3308","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda","family":"Melo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"836708","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2022.836708","article-title":"Factors and Mechanisms Involved in Acquired Developmental Defects of Enamel: A Scoping Review","volume":"10","author":"Collignon","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. 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