Frequency of Dental Anomalies in Various Malocclusions in Orthodontic Patients

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of different dental anomalies in different malocclusion groups of patients seeking orthodontic treatment. This study was carried out at the Orthodontic Department of Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry (AFID), Rawalpindi. Data for the study were collected from the pretreatment diagnostic records of patients who reported at the department for orthodontic treatment from June 2003 to June 2009. A total of 503 patients of both gender (158 male, 345 female) with mean age 15.89+3.03 years (range, 11-22 years) were evaluated for study. All the subjects were in permanent dentition and had pretreatment diagnostic records were included in the study. Patients with syndromes, severe medical histories, impacted third molars, extraction of any permanent tooth, or trauma to any tooth before orthodontic treatment were excluded from the study. It was found that 55.3% of patients (n =503) had at least one dental anomaly. Agenesis (missing tooth or teeth) was the most common (24.9%), followed by ectopic eruption 21.3%, impaction 7.8% (canine) and supernumerary teeth 1.4%. The rate of tooth agenesis was higher in female than in males. No statistically significant correlations were found between dental anomaly and type of malocclusion. A remarkably high rate of dental anomalies was recorded. Dental anomalies reflected higher frequency in females, presumably because of the higher number of female gender seeking orthodontic treatment in Pakistan.