The role of dental therapist in the management of paediatric patients with hypodontia

Abstract

Objectives To determine the role of the dental therapist in the multidisciplinary management of paediatric patients with hypodontia.Design Hypodontia data collection sheet.Subjects and methods Fifty patient records were randomly selected from patients who had attended over the last five years to a multidisciplinary hypodontia clinic at Birmingham Dental Hospital. Data regarding the age, sex, level of cooperation, complaints, oral health, medical and dental history, genetic history, teeth present and teeth missing, occlusion, treatment carried out and treatment outstanding were collected. Subsequent statistical analysis was done with SPSS.Results Sixteen patients had acquired hypodontia and 34 patients had congenital hypodontia. Those with acquired hypodontia were excluded from this study. Of the 34 with congenital hypodontia 22 were male and 12 female. The mean age of these patients was 13 years (+/− 3 SD). Fifteen patients had more than six teeth missing. Teeth most commonly missing were upper lateral incisors. Sixty-eight percent had familial hypodontia and 9% had hypodontia related to a syndrome. Of the prescribed treatments, oral hygiene instruction with disclosing and dietary advice was prescribed in 16, scaling in five, fissure sealants in two, preventive resin restoration in one, study models in ten, simple conservation in 11 and extractions in 17 patients. In addition to this, all 34 patients had treatment plans for orthodontic and advanced restorative treatment.Conclusion All of the patients in this study were managed with a combination of orthodontic and restorative treatment. In this group of patients, it was seen that a dental therapist could have carried all of the initially prescribed treatments effectively. Disappointingly not all the patients were given dietary advice or oral hygiene instructions, which is paramount for this group of patients to maintain their dentition and facilitate long term treatment planning.