Frequency of hypodontia in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi

ABSTRACT

To compare frequency of missing teeth in samples of population from Karachi. Cross-sectional study. This study was conducted in Department of Orthodontics, Karachi Medical and Dental College from October 2011 to October 2012. During the study period, 465 panoramic radiographs were evaluated and according to exclusion and inclusion criteria 309 panoramic radiographs were selected, out of which 109 [35.27%] were males and 200 [64.73%] were females. The patients were 12-25 years old. Data were collected and entered into the SPSS software [version 18; Chicago] to calculate frequencies, percentages and mean +/- SD. 02 males were found with hypodontia [1.83%] while 10 females were found with hypodontia [5%]. Few teeth like maxillary central incisors, 1[st] premolar and 1[st] molar in both arches show no congenital absence. A total of 17 teeth, [males = 3, females = 14] in 12 patients were congenitally missing. The most common congenitally missing teeth were maxillary left 2 incisor 23.52% followed by mandible left 2 pre-molar 17.64%. By early detection of missing teeth, alternative treatment modalities can be planned and minimize the complications of CMT. In this study it has been observed that among the population of Karachi threshold for agenesis of maxillary left 2nd incisors is the most commonly missing, followed by mandibular 2[nd] premolars