TOOTH MALALIGNMENTS IN CHILEAN CHILDREN WITH DOWN-SYNDROME

The present study analyzes the frequencies and types of anomalies in t ooth alignment in a sample of 136 children with Down syndrome, 147 men tally-impaired individuals without Down syndrome, and 149 normal indiv iduals, Patients with Down syndrome showed a higher frequency of malal ignments in both the deciduous and permanent dentitions compared with the children in control groups. In the three groups studied, the frequ ency of malalignments was higher in the permanent than in the deciduou s dentition, In the deciduous dentition, the frequency of malalignment s in the three groups was similar in the maxilla and mandible, and in both boys and girls, In the permanent dentition, the frequency of mala lignments was higher in Down and mentally-impaired girls without Down syndrome, while the frequency of malalignments in the mandible was onl y increased in mentally-impaired individuals who did not have Down syn drome, In the deciduous dentition, the Down group presented a higher f requency of malalignment in the upper central incisor, lateral incisor , and canine regions compared with the normal children. When comparing teeth of Down children with those of mentally-impaired individuals wh o did not have Down syndrome, differences in malalignment were observe d only in upper central incisor and canine regions. In the permanent d entition, the Down group showed a higher number of tooth malalignments than the normals (13 out of 28 teeth), A comparison of Down with non- Down mentally-impaired individuals, revealed only 8 teeth out of 28 we re different. The most frequent malalignments in the deciduous dentiti on in Down patients were mesiopalatal, mesiolingual, and mesiovestibul ar. In the permanent dentition, the most frequent malalignments were d istopalatal or distolingual.