The association between hypodontia and dental development

OBJECTIVES: In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to investigate the pattern of hypodontia in the Dutch population and determine the association between hypodontia and dental development in children with and without hypodontia, applying three different standards, Dutch, French Canadian, and Belgian, to estimate dental age. METHODS: We used dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) of 1488 children (773 boys and 715 girls), with a mean age of 9.76 years (SD = 0.24) participating in a population-based cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, born in 2002–2004, and 452 children (219 boys and 233 girls) with a mean age of 9.83 years (SD = 1.09) participating in a mixed-longitudinal, interdisciplinary population-based cohort study in Nijmegen, the Netherlands born in 1960–1968. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypodontia in the Generation R Study was 5.6 % (N = 84) and 5.1 % (N = 23) in the Nijmegen Growth Study. Linear regression analysis showed that children with hypodontia had a 0.37 [95 % CI (−0.53,-0.21)] to 0.52 [95 % CI (−0.76,-0.38)] years lower dental age than children without hypodontia. The ordinal regression analysis showed a delay in development of mandibular second premolars [1.68 years; 95 %CI (−1.90,-1.46)], mandibular first premolars [0.57 years; 95 % CI (−0.94,-0.20)], and mandibular second molars [0.47 years; 95 % CI (−0.84,-0.11)]. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that children with hypodontia have a delayed dental development. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The delay of dental development in children with hypodontia should be taken into consideration and therefore orthodontists should recognize that a later start of treatment in these patients may be necessary. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00784-015-1622-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.