A study of prevalence and distribution of tooth agenesis

INTRODUCTION Tooth agenesis is a phenomenon that occurs relatively commonly. The incidence of the missing teeth presented in the previous reports varies according to the studied population. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of tooth agenesis in a population group in Bucharest. METHODS AND RESULTS The prevalence and distribution of dental agenesis was determined in a sample of 518 patients, 285 females and 233 males, aged 6 to 41 years, who had been treated in the Clinic of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics in Bucharest. The tooth agenesis was diagnosed by using the orthodontic records and study casts for each patient. 35 of the patients, 17 males and 18 females, were diagnosed with at least one absent permanent tooth and 47 missing permanent teeth were reported. A prevalence of 6.757% was observed for tooth agenesis. The mandibular second premolar was found to be the most affected tooth, followed by the maxillary lateral incisor, maxillary second premolar, mandibular central incisors, mandibular second molar and mandibular lateral incisor. DISCUSSION The incidence of dental agenesis, its pattern and distribution per tooth type are in accordance with the previous published studies.