Prevalence of missing permanent teeth in 9-14 years dental patients in Sulaimani city - Radiographic study

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish the prevalence of missing permanent teeth in a sample of dental patients.
 Materials and Methods: A total of 1133 digital OPG images, for students aged between 9-14 years, were retrieved from archived records. All the digital images were evaluated on the computer screen for determining the number, type and site of missing teeth in relation to age and sex.
 Results: The prevalence of hypodontia was 14.1% (6% for males, 8.1% for females) with no sex variation. Most cases (51.28%) with hypodontia had only one missing tooth (21.79% for males, 29.49% for females). The most commonly missing teeth were the maxillary lateral incisors (37.8%), followed by the mandibular second premolars (34.1%).
 Conclusion: High prevalence of missing teeth could be reported depending on OPG alone. Single tooth loss, maxillary jaw, and left side were the common features of missing permanent teeth in teenagers of our sample.