Authors: Mahfud F Mohamed, Hawa Muadab.
Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of peg-shaped maxillary lateral incisors (PSMLI) among non-syndromic Libyan orthodontic patients and the effect of gender on the phenomenon.
Methods: Pretreatment orthodontic records of Libyan orthodontic patients were screened in the Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Benghazi, and three private orthodontic clinics in the city. Records of 2500 patients (1778 females and 722 males) were investigated; patients' ages ranged from 11 to 35 years old. The records were checked by the two researchers, searching for unilateral or bilateral PSMLI. Descriptive statistical estimations (prevalence and statistical significance) of the collected raw data and the interexaminer reliability testing were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM® SPSS® Statistics) version 26.
Results: Kappa values (K) =100% and 90% for intra-examiner and inter-examiner agreements respectively (P> 0.05). The overall prevalence of PSMLI in this study was 7.4% (2.6% unilateral and 4.8% bilateral). Gender does not affect the overall prevalence (P >0.05). The difference in the percentages of unilateral and bilateral PSMLI was statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). The prevalence of right-sided unilateral PSMLI among males was 1%, while it was 2.25% among females; the difference is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: PSML in Libyan orthodontic patients is more prevalent than in some other populations. No effect of gender on the phenomenon except in the case of the right-sided unilateral PSMLI, which was more in females.
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