International Journal of Modern Biological Research
ISSN: 2053-180X
Vol. 10(1), pp. 1-6, March 2023
doi.org/10.33500/ijmbr.2023.10.001

Remaining tooth sizes in persons with congenitally missing upper lateral incisor (ULI)

Hiroyuki Yamada*

Department of Anatomy, School of Dentistry, Aichi-Gakuin University, Nagoya, Japan.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ymd_20hiro4@yahoo.co.jp.

Received 7 February, 2023; Received in revised form 28 February, 2023; Accepted 3 March, 2023.

Abstract

Keywords:
Congenitally missing teeth, Maxillary lateral incisor, Third molar, Tooth size variation.

An investigation was conducted on Japanese males to determine how the size of the remaining teeth is affected in individuals with a congenital absence of an upper lateral incisor (ULI). The material used was 18 persons with missing ULI out of 83 persons with congenitally missing teeth (other than M3). Compared to the control group with 32 teeth, the ULI missing group had larger teeth for all measurements, especially for the central incisor (P<0.01 for the absence side; P<0.05 for the presence side) and first molar (P<0.05 for the absence side), except for the ULI on the presence side. In the ULI deficient group, the compensatory effect of tooth size is strong within a particular tooth type and not only do the teeth become larger, but the entire dentition is also affected and increases in size. Only the ULI on the presence side is affected by the defect, resulting in a reduction in tooth size. The presence or absence of M3 and ULI was unrelated to the frequency of congenitally missing teeth. There was no significant difference in the variation in tooth size of the ULI between the ULI missing group and the control group.