The role of implantology in the treatment of dental aplasia

Abstract

Hypodontia is the most frequent congenital tooth development disorder. Early diagnosis and multidisciplinary treatment are vital for a successful treatment. For aesthetics and space maintenance persisting deciduous teeth can be temporarily kept until the missing permanent teeth are replaced. Without prosthetic treatment space closure can be achieved by guided tooth extraction and orthodontic treatment. Prosthetic reconstruction is often compromised by tilted adjacent teeth and collapsed bite. In these cases preprosthetic orthodontic treatment is necessary to restore norm occlusion and to regain appropriate interarch and interdental space. Prosthetic reconstruction needs to be performed with minimal invasive approach especially in young patients. Adhesive bridges and veneers are preferable to conventional ones. Missing teeth can be also replaced with implants. For implantation adequate interdental space and bone amount are necessary which can be provided by preprosthetic orthodontic treatment and bone augmentation. Due to the development of implantology narrow implants became available, thus bone augmentation can be avoided in several cases. Occlusal overload and parafunctional activities also need to be eliminated by orthodontic treatment. To summarise, interdisciplinary consultation and thorough planning are inevitable for the successful treatment of hypodontia.