IRON CONTENT OF TEETH IN HEMOSIDEROSIS

¹ Divisions of Pathology and Pediatrics of The Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital Research Foundation, and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Analyses for iron were performed on 2 carious teeth from a girl who received many transfusions, totalling approximately 21,600 c.c. of blood (11 Gm. of iron) over a 7-year period, and who developed transfusional hemosiderosis. The teeth studied contained an average of 50.8 µg of iron per gram of tooth, whereas the average value of similarly treated carious teeth from control patients was 16.1 µg per grain. Whether the iron was deposited in the teeth before or after eruption is not known. Since salivary glands commonly show hemosiderosis in iron-storage disease, the iron content of saliva in such patients may be elevated, and the teeth may absorb iron from the saliva.

However, it is also possible that the iron was deposited in the teeth before their eruption. Studies on teeth of older persons with acquired hemosiderosis will be necessary to settle this point.