Avaliação da prevalência de anomalias dentais em indivíduos com síndrome de Down – Um estudo transversal retrospectivo em radiografias panorâmicas

Abstract

Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most frequent genetic conditions, affecting one out of every 600 newborns in Brazil. Some characteristics of this syndrome are of particular interest to Dentistry, including the presence of a protrusive and large tongue, arched palate and micrognathia, as well as a high prevalence of dental anomalies. Dental anomalies are changes in the tooth structure, originating from some disorder during tooth formation, which can be congenital, developmental or acquired. In order to assess the prevalence of dental anomalies in individuals affected by this syndrome, a retrospective cross-sectional study with a comparison group was carried out, in which syndromic and non-syndromic individuals who attended the Department of Radiology at the Dental School of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, (UFMG) were evaluated through digital panoramic radiographs, from 2016 to 2020. The sample consisted of 33 patients with DS (33.3%) and 66 non-syndromic patients (66.7%) and the mean age was 15.3 years (±7.06). No statistically significant differences were found regarding sex, age and type of dentition. There was a statistically significant association between the prevalence of dental anomalies and genetic condition (p=0.043), with an almost twice greater chance of patients with DS being diagnosed with some dental anomaly, when compared to the group without DS. The presence of number anomalies in association with the genetic condition was also statistically significant (p=0.001), as well as the presence of hypodontia (p=0.001), microdontia (p=0.001) and transposition (p=0.035). Individuals with DS presented higher prevalence of dental anomalies, demonstrating the importance of the dental surgeon being able to recognize the peculiarities inherent to these individuals, as well as being able to receive them in their clinical practice, establishing appropriate diagnoses and treatments.