Dental Anomalies: Prevalence, Patterns of Association and Relationship With Dental Age

Background

Dental anomalies represent frequent findings in orthodontics and pediatric dentistry, often leading to functional and esthetic problems. Although their etiology is multifactorial, the role of genetic factors is increasingly recognised.

Objective

To determine the prevalence of dental anomalies and identify associative patterns that may suggest a shared genetic origin.

Study Design

This observational, cross-sectional retrospective study analysed panoramic radiographs from patients attending 2 orthodontic and one pediatric dentistry practices. Inclusion criteria excluded cases with prior tooth loss due to trauma, caries, or extractions, syndromes, systemic diseases, or craniofacial malformations. Descriptive statistics were combined with hierarchical cluster analysis and inferential tests to identify associations between anomalies with 95% confidence intervals (IC). A p value of<.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

Records were obtained corresponding to 1,904 patients with a mean age of 10.69 $\pm$5.06 años. Dental anomalies were found in 35.5% of patients, with hypodontia of upper lateral incisors (9.3%) and palatal impaction of upper canines (9.2%) being the most frequent. Multiple anomalies occurred in 10.4% of patients. Five associative patterns were identified, with the strongest link observed between upper lateral incisor hypodontia and palatal impaction of upper canines (p < .001).

Conclusions

This large-scale study provides new insights into the co-occurrence of dental anomalies, supporting the hypothesis of common genetic factors. The identified patterns may facilitate early detection and risk prediction in orthodontic planning.

Clinical Relevance

Identifying associative patterns of dental anomalies through cluster analysis enables early detection of related conditions, such as predicting canine impaction from lateral incisor hypodontia, improving orthodontic diagnosis, treatment planning, and preventive strategies in pediatric and orthodontic patients.