Prevalence of ponticulus posticus among patients with different dental malocclusions by digital lateral cephalogram: a comparative study

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of ponticulus posticus among patients with dental Angle class I, II, and III malocclusions in Middle Anatolian population. A total of 1246 cephalometric radiographs were examined in a 6 months period. Each patient was assigned an identification number, and demographic information, absence/presence of PP, if present, type of PP and type of dental malocclusion were recorded by two observers. In cases where there was any disagreement, a third observer was consulted. Distributions of obtained values were analysed using Pearson's Chi-square test. The mean age of subjects was 20.98 +/- 6.95 years (range 10-39). In the analysed sample, PP had a prevalence of 18.8 % (complete form 9.6 %, incomplete form 9.2 %). There was a significant difference between genders (p = 0.002) (more prevalent in male patients: 119/522; 23 %). No significant difference was found between age groups (p > 0.05). PP was most frequently detected in Angle class III patients (78/351; 22.2 %) but there was no significant difference between malocclusion groups (p > 0.05). In the present study, PP is found to be a relatively common anomaly in patients with dental malocclusions. Although Angle class III patients showed a higher frequency of PP, statistically no significant difference was found among dental malocclusion groups.