Assessment of Hypodontia Treatment of Maxillary Lateral Incisors in Adult Patients After 9 Years of Follow-up: A Retrospective Study

Purpose: To assess the effects of maxillary lateral incisor hypodontia treatment following the use of implantation procedures, fixed and removable dental prostheses, and change in the shape of the canine. Materials and Methods: Hypodontia treatment effects were retrospectively evaluated in 129 patients aged 18 to 60 years. The assessment covered esthetic, biologic, and functional aspects of the restored missing teeth within 9 years after treatment. The analysis of the findings took into account the percentage of positive effects of treatment for each method and assessment year and also included statistical tests based on the F statistic, which allowed comparison of the effectiveness of the applied methods of hypodontia treatment. Results: In years 1 to 3, the effects of treatment were wholly positive; in subsequent years, the applied methods differed in terms of effectiveness. After 9 years, there was full clinical success for the implant-prosthetic method and for three-unit porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM) fixed partial dentures (FPDs), 77.77% success for fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) FPDs, 73.68% for multi-unit PFM FPDs, 67.56% for canine shape change, and 23% for metalalloy removable partial denture (RPD) prostheses. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the use of mini-implants with PFM crowns and three-unit PFM FPDs are the most effective treatment methods. A less favorable clinical effect was obtained with the use of FRC FPDs and multi-unit PFM FPDs. Changing the canine shape led to an acceptable clinical effect in over two-thirds of case histories. Metal-alloy RPD prostheses yielded the weakest effects.