Hypodontia in hemifacial microsomia.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to describe the patterns of missing teeth in patients with hemifacial microsomia (HFM) and (2) to compare the prevalence of missing teeth in subjects with HFM with a group of unaffected subjects.

STUDY DESIGN

A descriptive study was conducted comparing HFM subjects with a group of patients selected from an orthodontic clinic.

METHODS

The prevalence of missing teeth was assessed by evaluation of panoramic radiographs. At the time of the study, records of 125 patients with HFM were available from the Craniofacial Center at Boston's Children's Hospital. Seventy-six met inclusion criteria for radiographic analysis of hypodontia. Fifty-two patients met inclusion criteria into the comparison study in which the prevalence of hypodontia was compared with a group of patients from the Department of Orthodontics at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. A Fisher's exact test was conducted to test the hypothesis that HFM patients have a greater prevalence of missing teeth than individuals without the anomaly. A chi-square test for trend was conducted to determine whether hypodontia was more prevalent with increasing severity of the mandibular deformity in HFM.

RESULTS

Hypodontia was more common among HFM patients (26.9%) versus the comparison group in which no missing teeth were recorded (p < .0001). Additionally, the degree of hypodontia was correlated with the grade of mandibular hypoplasia (p = .024).

CONCLUSION

Hypodontia was found to be more prevalent in patients with HFM than in comparison subjects, possibly indicating an etiologic link between the two conditions.