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Published on: August 22, 2022
Dental development in children with mild-to-moderate hypodontia
Emine Şen Tunç1, Sule Bayrak, Alp Erdin Koyutürk
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey. sentunc@yahoo.com
Summary
Children with hypodontia (missing teeth) show statistically significant, yet minor, delays in dental development compared to peers. This slight delay, averaging a few months, does not correlate with the number of missing teeth.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Developmental Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Hypodontia, characterized by missing teeth, can impact overall dental development.
- Understanding developmental variations in children with hypodontia is crucial for clinical management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare dental development in children with mild-to-moderate hypodontia against a healthy control group.
- To investigate potential correlations between the severity of hypodontia and the degree of dental developmental delay.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 70 children with hypodontia was matched with 140 healthy controls based on race, age, and sex.
- Dental age was assessed using a modified estimation method, and differences between dental and chronological ages were analyzed.
- Spearman correlation tested the relationship between age differences and the number of missing teeth.
Main Results:
- Children with hypodontia exhibited statistically significant delays in dental development compared to controls (P <0.05).
- The average developmental delay did not exceed 0.3 years across both sexes.
- No significant correlation was found between the extent of dental age delay and the number of missing teeth.
Conclusions:
- Mild-to-moderate hypodontia is associated with a statistically significant, albeit small, delay in dental development.
- The observed delay is generally minor, averaging a few months.
- Individual patient assessment is recommended due to variations in dental development.
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