Agenesis of second premolar teeth - diagnostics and treatment

Agenesis of second premolar teeth represents a problem

that dentists and orthodontists deal with on a daily basis,

and which will occur with greater and greater prevalence

due to a tendency for the number of teeth to decrease

evolutionally. Besides being an obvious aesthetic defect, the

absence of teeth may cause serious functional effects such

as, for example, malocclusion. Depending on the author of

a research study, agenesis prevalence rate is reported to

amount to 0.3 – 36.5 per cent, which suggests that it is

a problem that every orthodontist will, sooner or later, have

to handle. Very delayed development of second premolars

described in the literature may also cause serious problems.

Aim. This article is an attempt to present the problem in its

entirety. It will discuss patient diagnostics, treatment planning

in cases where buds of second premolars are missing as well

as common tooth anomalies in subjects from the sample

under examination. Material and methods. Selected

scientific articles from the years 1939-2015 have been

reviewed. Results and conclusions. A clinician has at their

disposal at least several tools allowing for separation of

patients that can be found in a group being at risk of agenesis

or late development of second premolar teeth. A clinician may refer to the chronological age, adjacent teeth development

stage or certain phenotypic traits described. A diagnosis

made correctly is the foundation of good treatment strategy,

which has to take into account a large number of the abovementioned

factors. The best choice in these days when full

wide smiles are preferred seems to be to leave the deciduous

tooth in place for as long as possible. (Smusz MP. Agenesis

of second premolar teeth - diagnostics and treatment.

Orthod Forum 2018; 14: 284-95).