Incidence of Missing Maxillary Laterals in a group of 12-15 years old male students

Dental absence causes functional and esthetic outcomes in the involved patients so that the diagnosis and decrease of these complexities are of main concerns. Furthermore, maxillary lateral incisors absence develops the esthetic problems than other teeth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of absence of maxillary permanent lateral incisors in 12-15 years-old students of guidance schools in Qazvin during 2008-2009. In this descriptive-cross-sectional study, 1512 students of guidance schools in Qazvin city were selected via simple cluster sampling and underwent initial examinations was done in classrooms under daylight. Students, doubtful for maxillary lateral incisors absence, were referred for a detailed analysis to Qazvin Dental School, then they were examined by radiographic assessments and further analyses were performed on them. The data were reported by frequency and percentage indices. The congenitally absence of maxillary lateral incisors was observed in 16 students (1.058%) of the total populations: 7 cases (43.8%) occurred in the right side, 2 cases (12.5%) in the left side and 7 cases (43.8%) were bilateral. 11 samples (68.8%) had permanent dentition and 5 students (31.3%) were in mixed dentition. No case of supernumerary teeth and scar of lip, pre maxilla and palate. The prevalence of maxillary lateral incisors in the 12-15 years-old students of Qazvin city compares with the other reported values in the studied populations.