The orthodontic-restorative interface in patients with hypodontia: the patient's journey.

UNLABELLED: Congenitally absent teeth may pose aesthetic and functional problems for patients. Treatment is often complex and involves a multidisciplinary team. Using retrospective data, the patient's pathway, when a combined orthodontic-restorative dentistry approach was used, will be summarized. It was found that the number of teeth missing ranged from 1 to 8 with a mean of 3.4 per patient. Combined treatment was found to take on average around 38 months, using over 20 appointments.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Hypodontia is a relatively common condition. It is important that practitioners and patients are aware of the length of time treatment can take.