A CLINICAL AND RADIOGRAPHIC STUDY OF CONGENITALLY MISSING TEETH

선천성 결손치에 관한 임상 및 방사선학적 연구

The clinical and radiographic features of 655 congenitally missing teeth were studied with full mouth periapical radiograms and/or pantomograms from 368 persons visited the Department of Oral Radiology, Infirmary of Dentistry, Kyung Hee University during January 1981 to December 1989. The obtained results were as follows: 1. The prevalence of congenitally missing teeth was revealed to be 8.75% in total examined persons, and there was a higher prevalence in females (9.5%) than in males (8.0%). 2. The most frequently missing teeth were mandibular second premolars (24.6%), followed by mandibular lateral incisors (21.7%), maxillary second premolars (16.2%), and maxillary lateral incisors (11.5%). 3. There was a higher prevalence in the mandible (60.3%) than in the maxilla (39.7%), and no significant differences between right (49.65%) and left (50.35%) side. 4. In number of congenitally missing teeth per person, 54.6% had one missing tooth, and 32.9% had two missing teeth. 5. In persons with one or two congenitally missing teeth, the most frequently missing tooth was mandibular lateral incisor, and the second premolar was the tooth most frequently missing in those persons with more than three congenitally missing teeth.