A study on the missing of lateral incisor tooth in the elementary students of Kerman city

the missing of any tooth is due to undeveloped dental lamina that possible is caused by genetic factors such as ectodermal dysplasia,local infection and systemic diseases.in some cases,the lack of teeth is so wide that causes undevelopment in all premanent teeth which is known as comlete anodontia.the lack of lateral incisors causes speech defect,difficulty in breathing,spacing in other teeth,deviation in midline of jaw,malocclusion class III and esthetic problems in the patient.if this promleb is nothced in early childhood,it can be controlled by closing the spaces between the teeth.about 909 elementary students (boys and girls) from 14 different schools in Kerman city took part in this study.among these students,7 boys and 5 girls that make the total of 12 students(1.3%) were found with missing lateral incisors.