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Updated: May 22, 2026

Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology
Published on: August 22, 2022
Prevalence and distribution of dental anomalies in orthodontic patients
Mona A Montasser1, Mahasen Taha
1Orthodontics Department, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Mansoura, Mansoura, Egypt. mmontasser11@yahoo.com
Aim:
To study the prevalence and distribution of dental anomalies in a sample of orthodontic patients.
Methods:
The dental casts, intraoral photographs, and lateral panoramic and cephalometric radiographs of 509 Egyptian orthodontic patients were studied. Patients were examined for dental anomalies in number, size, shape, position, and structure. The prevalence of each dental anomaly was calculated and compared between sexes.
Results:
Of the total study sample, 32.6% of the patients had at least one dental anomaly other than agenesis of third molars; 32.1% of females and 33.5% of males had at least one dental anomaly other than agenesis of third molars. The most commonly detected dental anomalies were impaction (12.8%) and ectopic eruption (10.8%). The total prevalence of hypodontia (excluding third molars) and hyperdontia was 2.4% and 2.8%, respectively, with similiar distributions in females and males. Gemination and accessory roots were reported in this study; each of these anomalies was detected in 0.2% of patients.
Conclusion:
In addition to genetic and racial factors, environmental factors could have more important influence on the prevalence of dental anomalies in every population. Impaction, ectopic eruption, hyperdontia, hypodontia, and microdontia were the most common dental anomalies, while fusion and dentinogenesis imperfecta were absent.
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