Purpose:
To evaluate the association between third molar (M3) agenesis and hypodontia and
oligodontia in pediatric patients by using panoramic radiography.
Materials and methods:
Panoramic radiographs of 1,471 patients (899 females; 572 males) and 5,884 teeth
were retrospectively evaluated. The age and gender of the patients were recorded.
Patients ages 9-15 years old were included in the study. The mean age was 12.76.
The agenesis of M3 teeth and the relationship between M3 agenesis and hypodontia
and oligodontia were recorded according to findings from the upper and lower jaw,
in both the right and left locations, along with the number of M3 with agenesis. Data
were analyzed using chi-square and McNemar tests (p<0.05).
Results:
A total of 1,319 (89.7%) patients had all M3 teeth present in the mouth, while the
other 152 (10.3%) had congenital agenesis in one or more teeth. The number of
teeth in which M3 agenesis was seen, in order of the number of missing M3 teeth,
the percentages were 2.6% for one, 2.4% for two, 1.0% for three and 4.3% for
four missing teeth.Hypodontia was detected in 37 patients and oligodontia was
detected in 3 patients.
Conclusion:
The prevalence of M3 agenesis varies from one population to another. Two of the
dental anomalies associated with M3 agenesis are hypodontia and oligodontia. In
this study, M3 agenesis varied in terms of region and gender; hypodontia was also
significantly higher in patients with missing mandibular M3.