Perhaps, following a check on your child’s dental health, you have noticed the absence of a tooth. We know this absence as dental agenesis and, with advances in Dentistry, today it is no longer a problem. In this publication, we explain what it consists of and how it is treated.
1. What is dental agenesis?
Dental agenesis, also known as hypodontia, is one of the most common craniofacial anomalies, that is, one of the usual problems that can affect our children’s smile. Thus, this congenital absence of one or more teeth is due to an alteration in the normal process of tooth formation, and can affect both temporary and permanent dentition.
2. What are the causes of dental agenesis?
The agenesis or lack of teeth can be expressed in several ways. It can appear sporadically as an isolated trait, it can be hereditary, present as part of endocrine and developmental disorders (syndromes), systemic pathologies, and local factors such as systemic infections, severe trauma to the primary dentition, and localized infections. The quantity, type, location, severity and symmetry of the affected teeth is variable within the individual and in the members of the same family.
Dental agenesis mainly affects the permanent dentition, being more frequent in females, and usually affects the upper anterior region to a greater extent. Differences are also observed in terms of its prevalence from one continent to another, being more frequent in the European and Australian population. Studies speak of a range of prevalence that fluctuates between 1.6 to 9.6%.
3. What teeth can agenesis affect?
Agenesis can involve various teeth, especially the permanent dentition, and unilaterally in most cases. In order of frequency, we find that the most missing teeth are the third molars, followed by the lateral incisors, the lower second premolars, the upper second premolars, and finally the lower central incisors. The primary dentition can also be affected, but it is rare to find cases of congenital agenesis in milk teeth.
The diagnosis is usually casual in many cases, especially in children, when after doing a complete X-ray of the arches we see that some dental piece is missing. Other times, what is observed is a delay in dental replacement: the tooth that should fall out does not do so, because it does not have the final one to reabsorb its roots, and therefore we find a milk tooth at an age that would not correspond to be already in the mouth.
4. What are the consequences of missing teeth for our children?
Agenesis is one of the local factors associated with the appearance of dental malocclusions since they can cause alterations in dental alignment and create more complex problems in occlusion, but it also has an aesthetic repercussion, when the teeth involved are located in the anterior sector of the mouth.
5. How can dental agenesis be treated?
The treatment of this anomaly varies depending on the missing tooth, the age of the patient, and the type of malocclusion. In general, the treatment indicated in these cases is the extraction of the temporary tooth followed by orthodontic treatment, in order to redistribute the excess space of the missing tooth in order to correct the bite and stabilize the patient’s occlusal pattern.
On some occasions, orthodontics is enough, while on others it will be necessary to place an implant to replace the missing tooth. The only teeth that do not require treatment is the case of the third molars whose absence does not affect occlusion or aesthetics.
Each case must be studied individually, taking into account all the factors mentioned above in order to provide the most appropriate solution for each patient, especially the youngest. For this reason, it is advisable to carry out revisions once the first teeth begin to appear. Keeping track of the dental health of the little ones is essential to ensure a healthy and functional smile.
