Table 1: Effect of preterm birth on oral structures

Structural changes in the dental crowns
•   Crown dilaceration from endotracheal intubation
Palatal distortions
•   Increase in height of the palate
•   Distortions of dental arches
Retardation of dental growth and development
•   Delay in eruption of the primary dentition
•   Delay in growth of the permanent dentition
Cavity/decay
•   Lesion in a pit or fissure or on a smooth tooth surface with an unmistakable cavity, undermined enamel, or a detectably softened floor or wall
Hypoplasia
•   Quantitative alteration with located reduction in the thickness of the enamel: Pits, grooves, or larger areas of missing enamel
Demarcated opacity
•   Quantitative alteration in the translucency of the enamel of variable degree
•   Enamel of normal thickness and intact surface with demarcation starting from the normal adjacent enamel with clear limits
•   White, cream, yellow, or brown coloring
Cleft anomalies and palatal groove
•   Palatine cleft or groove
Other defects
•   Oral trauma (crows with fractures, avulsion, intrusion, displacement of anterior primary teeth, alteration of tooth brownish color)
•   Skeletal bone deformity (observed clinically)