Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Evaluation of the needs for prosthetic restorations of front teeth in a group of children and adolescents

Arina Vinereanu, Rodica Luca

Prosthetic treatments for children represent a challenge for the paediatric dentist due to the various
characteristics of the growing arches and developing teeth that must be taken into account.
Aim. To evaluate the needs for prosthetic treatment in the front of the jaws in a group of young
patients, as well as the causes and consequences of these needs.
Material and methods. 250 patients recruited from the Pedodontics clinic (123 boys), aged 7 to 18
years (12.00 – 2.96 years), were examined in terms of missing or severely destructed front permanent
teeth needing prosthetic treatment. Data was registered and processed using SPSS software for
Windows.
Results. 12.8% of the subjects needed prosthetic treatment of front teeth. 2.7% of the teeth taken
into account needed prosthetic treatment, from which 48.2% were central incisors, 36.1% were lateral
incisors, and 15.7% were canines. No correlation was found between the age of the patients and
the needs for prosthetic treatment. Most of the teeth needing prosthetic treatment had either massive
crown destruction (57.8%) or were missing (41.0%). Untreated caries was the most common
cause of the missing or destructed teeth (36.1%), followed by congenitally missing teeth (28.9%),
traumatic injuries (20.5%), and development abnormalities (14.5%). Space alterations were noticed
exclusively in the maxilla, for 25.4% of the upper front teeth needing prosthetic treatment, due to
mesial drifting of the adjacent teeth.
Conclusions. Caries prevention programs and early treatment of dental trauma could reduce early
needs for prosthetic treatment of upper front teeth. Early restoration of missing/destructed permanent
teeth is recommended in order to prevent space alterations.