THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONGENITALLY MISSING PRIMARY LOWER ANTERIOR TEETH AND THEIR SUCCEDANEOUS PERMANENT TEETH IN KOREAN CHILDREN

Many studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between the congenitally missing primary teeth and their succedaneous permanent teeth. However, especially in case of lower anterior region, we can observe the existence of permanent teeth even though their precedent primary teeth were missed at times. The purpose of this study was to reveal the relationship between the congenitally missing primary lower anterior teeth and their succedaneous permanent teeth in Korean children. Total of 14,307 children, under 6 years of age, who attended the department of pediatric dentistry, Seoul National University Dental Hospital, Seoul, Korea from January 1st 2005 to September 5th 2008 were radiologically examined using the panoramic x-ray in order to analyze the relationship between the congenitally missing primary lower anterior teeth and their succedaneous permanent teeth. The results were as follows : 1. The prevalence of congenitally missing lower anterior teeth in primary dentition was 0.24%. The odds ratio of both the primary and permanent anterior teeth being present was 7163.5 and only the permanent anterior teeth being present was 0.79. 2. The percentage of all succedaneous permanent teeth being present was 44.12% in cases of missing lower primary anteriors. The odds ratio of at least one succedaneous permanent teeth being present in cases of bilateral primary anterior teeth missing was 1.57 times more common than in cases of unilateral primary teeth missing. 3. The odds ratio of primary missing teeth being unilateral was 2.2 times higher in females. Moreover, the odds ratio of succedaneous permanent teeth being present in cases of primary teeth missing was 2.22 times higher in males.