Decision making for absent premolar teeth - space closing or opening?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Dental factors influencing decision making for absent premolar teeth: a retrospective study.
IRAS ID
275419
Contact name
Aman Ulhaq
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 1 days
Research summary
Hypodontia is the congenital absence of one or more teeth and is one of the most common developmental disorders in the human population. It is considered to have the highest priority in terms of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN), scoring grade 4 or 5, depending on the number of absent teeth (Hobkirk, 2011).
Hypodontia creates significant challenges in terms of both Orthodontics and Restorative dentistry. The current treatment options for hypodontia patients include either space closure or space opening followed by prosthetic replacements, involving dentures, bridges or implants.The aim of this research is to determine the decision making for absent premolar teeth, that is, space closure or prosthetic replacement. Factors which affect decision making, such as skeletal pattern, overjet, overbite, space available in the dental arch and condition of retained primary teeth, will be investigated. This is important for effectively treating patients with developmentally absent teeth (hypodontia), as their treatment tends to be more complex than that of patients with a complete dentition. The research will retrospectively examine patient records, radiographs and study models. This study hopes to add more information to help clinicians determine the best treatment option for hypodontia patients. A worthwhile improvement in study outcomes would be to evaluate Orthodontic treatment duration, assessing the Restorative treatment involved and its duration. The ability to inform patients regarding the average treatment duration of both options (space closure or space opening followed by prosthetic replacement) should aid in the decision-making process.
A retrospective study will be carried out to identify hypodontia patients attending the Edinburgh Dental Institute from December 2019 backwards, until an appropriate number of patients have been analysed, using the Software of Excellence software to analyse patient records and radiographs to determine the decision making for absent premolar teeth. Patient study models will also be analysed. Archived records will be used to record relevant dental and skeletal features and treatment decisions. The duration of participant involvement is not applicable as this is a retrospective study, however the study involves analysing the records of hypodontia patients who have completed a course of Orthodontic treatment.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
20/ES/0058
Date of REC Opinion
27 May 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion