PREVALENCE OF NATAL OR NEONATAL TEETH IN PAEDIATRIC DENTAL PATIENTS IN CHENNAI- A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Abstract

Natal teeth are teeth which are seen at birth and neonatal teeth erupt during the first thirty days after birth. The exact cause for these abnormalities is not exactly determined but factors such as trauma, malnutrition, infection or environmental factor can be a causative factor. Different studies conducted in different regions have shown different incident rates. The objective of the study is to find the prevalence of natal/neonatal teeth among the general population visiting a dental college setting in Chennai. In this retrospective study design, evaluation of 86,000 patient case sheets were done and isolation of 1,851 patient records within the age group of 0 to 6 years were selected to evaluate data on neonatal/natal missing tooth. Inclusion criteria included patients aged from 0 to 6 years, both male and female population. Exclusion criteria included incomplete data. MS-Excel tabulation was done and SPSS analysis was done. Out of 1851 children, only three neonates were born with natal teeth. Our study showed male preponderance and most commonly erupted teeth were mandibular anteriors.The prevalence of natal teeth (0.16%) was found to be very rare in our study group.