Oral stereognostic ability in hypodontia patients

ABSTRACT

Hypodontia is congenital absence of one or more, but not all, of the normal complement of teeth. It is one of the most frequent alterations of human dentition. Hypodontia either alone or association with craniofacial developmental disorders can pose speech and masticatory dysfunctions along with aesthetic and functional problems. Oral Stereognostic ability can be used to diagnose and predict the prognosis of different treatment modalities in hypodontia patients. To compare oral Stereognostic ability in hypodontia patients with those having normal dentition. Case Control study, conducted in the Department of Prosthodontics, de'Montmorency College of Dentistry/ Punjab Dental Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. Forty hypodontia subjects were selected. Forty dental students of third and final year with normal dentition were selected as controls. Oral Stereognostic ability scores were calculated using specific test samples for both groups. This study showed that oral Stereognostic ability scores were reduced in hypodontia subjects with a significant p value<0.001. It confirms that hypodontia subjects had some difficulty in perceiving the intra oral objects. Oral Stereognostic ability was impaired in hypodontia subjects; correction at early age might improve the case