Agenesis of lateral incisors: Treatment options and case report

Agenesis of one or more teeth constitutes one of the most common developmental anomalies in man. Maxillary lateral incisors are the most frequently missing teeth when only one or two teeth are absent, whereas second premolars are the most frequently missing teeth when more than two teeth are absent. Managing patients with congenitally missing maxillary lateral incisors raises several important issues involving the amount of space, patient's age, type of malocclusion, treatment duration, tooth display when smiling and particularly, the condition, shape and size of the canine and condition of the adjacent teeth. There are two treatment options: 1) Canine substitution followed by space closure. 2) Space creation for missing lateral incisors followed by prosthetic replacement. Both treatment options have advantages and disadvantages. Here, we are going to present treatment of a rare case of missing bilateral maxillary and mandibular lateral incisors.