Prevalence and Pattern of Non-Syndromic Hypodontia in a Group of Turkish Children

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and pattern of congenital missing teeth in the permanent dentition (excluding wisdom teeth), among Turkish children in a 4-year period (2009-2012).

The study group comprised 1658 children (873 girls, 785 boys). The children were examined in Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Dental School of Marmara University. A chi square test was used to determine the difference in the prevalence of hypodontia between genders.

The prevalence of hypodontia was 6.2% (6.3% girls, 6% boys) with no statistically significant difference between the genders (P=0.601). The most frequently missing tooth were the mandibular left second premolars, 63 (20.7%), followed by the mandibular right second premolars, 61(20.1%), maxillary left premolars, 31 (10.2%). There were 89 anterior and 214 posterior missing teeth. Bilateral hypodontia was observed in 70 (39 girls, 31 boys) patients (67.9%). The most common bilateral missing teeth were the mandibular second premolar (22 girls, 21 boys) (42.1%) and the maxillary second premolar (6 girls, 15 boys) (20.5%). The mandibular left second premolar (9 boys, 8 girls) was the most frequent unilaterally missing tooth (5.6%) followed by the mandibular right second premolar (10 girls, 6 boys) (5.28%).

The obtained results point to the importance of detailed clinical and radiographic examination. These help with long-term treatment planning according to a child's individual requirements.