Ghost Teeth: A Rare Developmental Anomaly of the Dental Tissues

Regional odontodysplasia (RO) is a sporadic (not inherited) developmental defect involving only a few contiguous teeth in a small region of the jaw; developmentally it involves both mesodermal and ectodermal dental components. It affects the primary and permanent dentition in the maxilla and mandible or both jaws. Generally it is localized to only one arch. The etiology of this dental anomaly is uncertain. Clinically, affected teeth have an abnormal morphology, are soft on probing and typically discoloured, yellow or yellowish-brown. Radiographically the affected teeth show a thin layer of dentin and enamel with a huge pulp space producing a “ghost like” appearance. This paper reports a case of a 3-year-old boy who presented with this rare anomaly on the left side of the maxillary arch and the sequelae of the same on the involved primary teeth. The primary maxillary left central, lateral and canine were involved with varying degrees of severity. Management of RO is challenging and long term, the various treatment modalities will be outlined and discussed.