Prosthodontic management of hypodontia in general dental practice: case reports.

Although a detailed understanding of the etiology of hypodontia is lacking, there is a need for awareness among dental professionals of the social and psychological consequences of severe hypodontia, as well as knowledge of those affected by hypodontia have ongoing dental treatment needs. Although, there may be a need for immediate referral of children to different specialists for optimal multidisciplinary treatment planning, most older patients with severe hypodontia can be treated by general practitioners. Practitioners therefore need to be aware of the ramifications of the condition and be capable of providing adequate oral health care for these patients and referring them for additional services when necessary. A case-report series is used to illustrate routine prosthodontic treatments that can be offered to older patients in general dental practice

Dentofacial characteristics of patients with hypodontia

Item does not contain fulltextThis study aims to identify distinctive dentofacial characteristics of hypodontia patients. For this purpose, 189 young hypodontia patients (cases) were divided into subgroups, based on criteria from literature. Normalised differences between cases and controls were calculated for various parameters of dentofacial form. Subsequently, cluster analysis was applied to disclose subsets of hypodontia patients with distinctive dentofacial features. The ANB angle, interincisal angle and lower anterior face height were consistently significantly different amongst the subsets. Four clusters of patients with an increasing number of missing teeth and distinctive dentofacial characteristics could be identified. Patients in cluster 1 display a high-angle facial pattern. Patients in clusters 2 and 3 exhibit markable dentoalveolar characteristics (a relatively small and a large interincisal angle, respectively). Patients in cluster 4 exhibited notable sagittal-skeletal discriminative features predominantly because of a retrognathic maxilla. The smallest nasolabial angle and lower anterior face height were seen in this cluster. It is concluded that the anterior-posterior relationship between the jaws, the interincisal angle and the lower anterior face height are discriminative parameters of dentofacial form in hypodontia patients. Patients with hypodontia can be clustered in four groups, each with distinctive vertical-skeletal, dentoalveolar and sagittal-skeletal characteristics. This categorisation of patients with hypodontia into meaningful groups may be useful for treatment planning, interdisciplinary communication and as a means of identifying groups of patients that qualify for reimbursement of costs. Other dental factors should be appreciated as well during restorative clinical decision making in patients with hypodontia.1 augustus 201