Prevalence and Pattern of Congenital Missing Teeth in a Group of Iranian Adolescents

Statement of problem: congenital missing tooth is the condition of havinggenetically one or more missing teeth which cannot be observed clinically orin radiographic images. this is one of the most prevalent anomalies in dentaldevelopment that occurs either individually or as symptoms of a syndrome.moreover, for permanent teeth, it is common with a reported prevalence ofbetween 1.6-9.6%.purpose: the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rate and thepattern of congenital missing teeth in adolescents referring to mashhad schoolof dentistry.materials and method: in this cross-sectional study, a total of 600 panoramicradiographs related to the subjects aged 9-14 years (351 girls and 249 boys)were analyzed. the data were recorded in the related forms, and then analyzedusing chi-square and exact tests.results: among 600 panoramic radiographs, 94 teeth were found to be missing.the most and the least frequent missing teeth were the mandibular secondpremolars and the maxillary central incisors (observed in only 1 subject),respectively. the most commonly absent teeth were the mandibular secondpremolars, the maxillary lateral incisors, the mandibular central incisors, andthe maxillary second premolars in order of the frequency.conclusion: this study revealed that the frequency of missing tooth in girls ishigher than that in boys. thus, due to the girls' more aesthetic sensibility andalso intricate treatment of such anomaly, accurate and frequent examination ofadolescents’ particularly girls’ teeth for on-time diagnosis is crucial.