The prevalence of developmental anomalies among school children in Southern district of Andhra Pradesh, India

BACKGROUND: The developmental anomalies of oral cavity are malformations affecting dental and oral tissues. Anomalies of teeth can be associated with primary, mixed or adult dentitions. Anomalies are the results of perturbations in the developmental stages of tissues which may be influenced by genetic and/or environmental factors. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of oral and dental anomalies among school attending children in Chittoor and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh. The secondary objective of this study was to compare occurrence of anomalies based on the age stratification to denote primary, mixed and adult dentitions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 5000 school children, aged 3–15 years were invited to participate in the study. Information regarding age, sex, level of school education, brushing and hygiene habits were collected using a questionnaire. Intra- and extra-oral examinations were conducted by trained dental surgeons. Clinical data were collected by a single examiner and the details of these anomalies were recorded on the data sheet of the study. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of developmental anomalies was 11.40% and documented 14 types of anomalies. The prevalence of documented anomalies is as follows: tongue-tie 197 (3.90%), dental fluorosis 171 (3.40%), high frenal attachments 156 (3.10%), cusp of Carabelli 14 (0.30%), supernumerary teeth 11 (0.20%), microdontia 4 (0.10%), congenitally missing teeth 4 (0.10%), lip pits 3 (0.08%), fusion 2 (0.04%), retained deciduous teeth 2 (0.04%) and one case of angular cheilitis, cleft lip and cleft palate, talon cusp, amelogenesis imperfecta (0.02%). The prevalence of dental anomalies was 18.10% in 3–5 years, 52.30% among 6–12 years and 29.6% in 13–15 years. Chi-square test was statistically significant (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Tongue-tie was the most frequent oral tissue developmental anomaly and fluorosis was the most common developmental anomaly affecting dental tissue. The prevalence rate of the study was compared with studies published from other geographical regions in India. The variations in the reported prevalence of developmental anomalies are probably related to genetic and environmental conditions.