The Prevalence of Peg Shaped and Missing Permanent Maxillary Lateral Incisors in Najaf City

Abstract

Background: The presence of a missing or peg shaped lateral incisor is a major concern for the subjects facial esthetics.

Objectives: The objectives are to find the prevalence of peg shaped and missing permanent maxillary lateral incisors in Najaf City.

Methodology: A cross sectional study was constructed and composed of 416 Iraqi students (215 males and 201 females) randomly chosen of 3 colleges of Kufa University in Najaf. Each subject was examined by visual inspection under day light looking for missing or peg shaped permanent maxillary lateral incisors.

Results: The prevalence of missing maxillary lateral incisors was 3.8% (16 subjects) with an insignificant gender difference. There were two unilateral missing maxillary lateral incisor and 14 bilateral cases. Prevalence of peg shaped laterals was 4.3% (17 subjects) with an insignificant gender difference. Maxillary median diastema was found in 15.4% of the sample. Presence of missing lateral incisors showed a significant relationship with the presence of a maxillary median diastema.

Conclusions: The presence of missing or peg shaped lateral incisors was found to be statistically significantly related to the presence of spacing and the presence of peg shaped lateral incisor showed a non-significant relationship with the presence of a maxillary median diastema.