Prevalence of oro-dental anomalies among schoolchildren in Sana'a city, Yemen.
Practitioners and policy-makers need information about the relative frequency of dental anomalies among children in their region. This study investigated the prevalence of different oral anomalies among schoolchildren in Sana'a city, Yemen. A sample of 1000 private and public schoolchildren aged 4-12 years were examined by the same examiner using disposable tongue blades. The total prevalence of oral anomalies was 15.1%, most commonly in boys (male:female ratio 3.2:1) aged 7-12 years. The most prevalent dental anomaly related to hard tissues was tooth hypoplasia (2.8%), followed by hypocalcification (2.6%), then microdontia (0.5%), macrodontia (0.4%), hypodontia (0.4%), supernumerary teeth (0.3%), tooth transposition (0.3%), dental fusion (0.2%) and gemination (0.2%). The most prevalent soft tissues anomaly was fissured tongue (4.0%), followed by ankyloglossia (1.8%), geographic tongue (0.9%), macroglossia (0.4%) and hairy tongue (0.3%). Appropriate measures need to be taken early to mitigate the negative impact and later costs of treatment of anomalies.
Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, Al-Farabi College, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
M
M
Basalamah
Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, Al-Farabi College, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
K
K
Baroudi
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009056:Mouth Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009909:Oral Health; D015995:Prevalence; D014071:Tooth Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015006:Yemen / Q000453:epidemiology