Prevalence Of Congenital Missing Lateral Incisors In Military Hospital Population

Background: The congenital absence of teeth results from disturbance during initial stage of tooth formation. The teeth most often missing are the second premolars, the maxillary lateral incisors and the third molars. In the present study, we aim to analyze large sample to obtain a clear and valid picture of congenitally missing maxillary lateral incisors (agenesis) or any other abnormalities related maxillary lateral incisors. This agenesis could be the cause of malocclusion and will affect methods of treatment.
Methodology: A cross-sectional design will be used to retrieve patients information prior to 2020 from medical records using panoramic radiographs. A total of 2000 Saudi male and female with age range 12-30 years old in military hospital.
Results: The findings indicates that agenesis of maxillary lateral incisors were present in 4.85% with no statistical significant difference between unilateral and bilateral occurrence. Malformation was observed more in left side (5.21%) with significant difference in missing between right and left. In regards to gender, it was more frequent in females than males (3.18%).
Conclusion: the prevalence of congenitally missing teeth in this sample study in military hospital was within the range of the reported data in the literature for other populations. The most significant finding was the gender difference with higher presence in female than male.