Child Perception Questionnaire for Oral Symptoms of Hypodontia Children

Abstract

Background: The congenital absence of one or more deciduous or permanent teeth is called hypodontia. It is the most prevalentcongenital dental abnormality. Hypodontia could be caused by a number of genetic and environmental factors.Objectives: The aim of the current study was to find out the impact of hypodontia on oral health and quality of life of children.Material and Methods: A cross sectional comparative study was carried out on 40 patients suffering from hypodontia and 40healthy controls in the outpatient department of Nishtar institute of dentistry, Multan. Patients and healthy controls were selected bynon-probability convenient sampling technique without any gender discrimination. Age of the selected patients and controls was11-14 years. Oral health was checked by using dental examination instruments. Urdu Proformas were used for betterunderstanding of children.Results: Mean age of the study subjects was 11.9 (± 0.94) years with range of 11 to 14 years. There was 36 (45%) male and 44(55%) female. In our study, maxillary lateral incisor was the most commonly missing tooth. Out of 40 patients suffering fromhypodontia, about 37 (92.5%) patients presented with poor oral health, 38 (95%) patients were affected by their condition and31(77.5%) patients were dissatisfied from their appearance.Conclusion: Hypodontia had great impact on the quality of life of the children. Patients presented with poor oral health and werehighly dissatisfied from their condition.Keywords: Hypodontia, oral health, quality of life