Prevalence and distribution of dental agenesis among orthodontic patients

Prevalence and distribution of dental agenesis among orthodontic patients of Kathmandu, Nepal: Sanjay Prasad Gupta, Shristi Rauniyar



Archives of Medicine and Health Sciences 2019 7(2):172-176



Background: Tooth agenesis is the most common developmental dental anomaly in humans with a wide variability of distribution among different population. Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of dental agenesis among Nepalese orthodontic patients of Kathmandu and its occurrence with relation to gender, sides, and jaw. Materials and Methods: This study consisted of 601 patients (242 males and 359 females) aged between 10 and 35 years who require orthodontic treatment. Dental panoramic radiographs were evaluated for dental anomalies causing disturbance in number by a trained observer who followed a preestablished protocol. Chi-square test was used to determine the difference in the prevalence of dental agenesis between genders, sides, and jaws. Results: The prevalence of dental agenesis was 7.48% (45) while excluding the third molar and 27.62% (166) while including the third molar. The prevalence of oligodontia was 0.33% (2). The total number of missing teeth including the third molar was 371 and it was 72 while excluding the third molar. Maxillary lateral incisor was the most lost (48.61%) followed by mandibular lateral incisor (19.44%), mandibular central incisor (8.33%), mandibular second premolar (6.94%), and maxillary second premolar (5.55%) while excluding the third molars. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of missing teeth in between gender (P = 0.996), in between right and left sides (P = 0.590), and in between upper and lower jaws (P = 0.010). Conclusion: The most common missing teeth were maxillary lateral incisor followed by mandibular lateral incisor, mandibular central incisor, and mandibular second premolar. Orthodontists have the responsibility to observe each patient carefully for dental agenesis and have full knowledge to plan the best possible treatments.