title: Prevalence and distribution of dental anomalies in orthodontic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the prevalence and distribution of dental anomalies in a sample of orthodontic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The dental casts, intraoral photographs, and lateral panoramic and cephalometric radiographs of 509 Egyptian orthodontic patients were studied. Patients were examined for dental anomalies in number, size, shape, position, and structure. The prevalence of each dental anomaly was calculated and compared between sexes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total study sample, 32.6% of the patients had at least one dental anomaly other than agenesis of third molars; 32.1% of females and 33.5% of males had at least one dental anomaly other than agenesis of third molars. The most commonly detected dental anomalies were impaction (12.8%) and ectopic eruption (10.8%). The total prevalence of hypodontia (excluding third molars) and hyperdontia was 2.4% and 2.8%, respectively, with similiar distributions in females and males. Gemination and accessory roots were reported in this study; each of these anomalies was detected in 0.2% of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to genetic and racial factors, environmental factors could have more important influence on the prevalence of dental anomalies in every population. Impaction, ectopic eruption, hyperdontia, hypodontia, and microdontia were the most common dental anomalies, while fusion and dentinogenesis imperfecta were absent.
authors.affiliation: Orthodontics Department, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Mansoura, Mansoura, Egypt. mmontasser11@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mona A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Montasser
authors.forename: Mahasen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taha
mesh_terms: D000848:Anodontia; D006801:Humans; D008964:Molar, Third; D015995:Prevalence; D014071:Tooth Abnormalities; D014095:Tooth, Impacted