Dental factors influencing treatment choice for maxillary lateral incisor agenesis: A retrospective study

Objectives: Maxillary Lateral Incisor Agenesis (MLIA) pose significant orthodontic and restorative challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate dental factors and their effect on decision making for MLIA. Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients who attended the Edinburgh Dental Institute between 2007 and 2016. Patients with uni- lateral or bilateral MLIA were included. Excusion criteria: inadequate pre-treatment re- cords, hypodontia of additional teeth as well as MLIA, a craniofacial syndrome, previous orthodontic treatment. Archived records were used to record relevant dental features and treatment decisions. The independent variables were age, gender, overjet, molar relationship, space availability for lateral incisors, and canine aesthetics. The depend- ent variable was treatment outcome (orthodontic space opening or closing). Multiple regression models were used to identify predictors of treatment outcome. Results: 44 patients were included in the study (30 female and 14 male). Mean age was 13.7 (SD 2.3) years. Fifteen patients (34.1%) had space closure and 29 patients (65.9%) received space opening. Space availability was the only significant predictor of treatment out- come within the regression model (p=0.02). Conclusions: Presence of adequate space in the maxillary arch is associated with orthodontic space opening for MLIA