Radiographic assessment of congenitally missing teeth in orthodontic patients

Summary. Objective. To estimate the prevalence of congenitally missing teeth (CMT) in patients evaluated for orthodontic care. A sample of 668 panoramic radiographs from Mexican population was reviewed from orthodontic healthy patients, 9–20 years old. Method. Statistical tests were used to compare maxillary and mandibular hypodontia in right and left quadrants between males and females. Results. Prevalence was 27% when all teeth were included, and was 2·7% when third molars were excluded. A significant difference was found between maxillary and mandibular symmetrical CMT in third maxillary molars, lateral incisors and second premolars (P < 0·001), and in mandibular third molars and central incisors (P < 0·001). Conclusions. We confirmed that occurrence of CMT in the permanent dentition of a Mexican population most often affects third molars, followed by maxillary lateral incisors and then mandibular second premolars.