The Occurrence of Anomalies of Primary Anterior Teeth and Their Effect on the Permanent Successors in Iranian Children

Numerous studies report the prevalence of tooth absence, extra tooth, and double tooth (fusion & gemination) in anterior primary teeth as being just less than 1%. Due to low prevalence of such anomalies, little attention is paid to them. There are concrete effects on corresponding permanent teeth and developing occlusion in about 50% of these cases. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of such problems in 113 cases, and to discuss the effect of these anomalies on the permanent successors A total of 113 cases of the different 4 types of anomalies (39 cases of fusion, 14 cases of gemination, 39 cases of missing, and 21 cases of supernumerary teeth) were studied. The cases were among the patients referring to the author’s private clinic during the past 20 years for whom an appropriate radiography had been performed. The cases with tooth absence due to extraction or trauma were excluded. The results of the study were descriptively analyzed and reported. In the present study, the distribution of the anomalies including 39 cases of fusion, 14 cases of gemination, 39 cases of issing, and 21 cases of supernumerary teeth based on sex, maxillary and mandibular arches, tooth type, being unilateral or bilateral, as well as the impact of each on the succeeding permanent teeth were reported. The results show that the highest prevalence of fusions was seen in the central and lateral mandibular teeth, while in gemination, the cases were higher on maxillary teeth. All supernumerary teeth were seen in the maxillary arch, while there was a good balance for the missing tooth in both arches. In almost 50% of the cases, the presence of fusion in primary teeth was accompanied with a missing of permanent tooth; yet in gemination, the number of permanent teeth was normal. Finally, in almost half of the cases with supernumerary tooth, there was supernumerary tooth in permanent dentition. The results in this study is valuable indicating that tooth radiograph is helpful in evaluating the number of anterior permanent teeth in case such anomalies exist; Thereby, suitable treatment plans for the future could be established.