The Association Between Gestational Age and Shape Anomalies of the Permanent Dentition.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between gestational age status and the presence of dental anomalies in the permanent dentition.

Methods: Dental and medical charts and panoramic radiographs of 340 seven- to 18-year-old subjects with a known history of premature birth were assessed retrospectively. The controls were 150 healthy children born at full term. The gestational ages of subjects were recorded and categorized as extremely premature, very premature, late premature, or full term. From the panoramic radiographs, dental anomalies were classified as shape, number, and positional. The total number of anomalies and the number of each type of anomaly was recorded.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the odds of having at least one anomaly according to gestational age (P=.04), with decreasing numbers of anomalies as gestational age increased. Subjects of younger gestational ages had significantly more shape anomalies (P<.01); however, no such association occurred for number or positional types of anomalies (P>.05).

Conclusions: There was a significant association between gestational age status and shape anomalies in the permanent dentition. The number of anomalies increased as gestational age decreased. Subjects born at younger gestational ages had more shape anomalies compared to other types of anomalies.