Hypodontia and self-esteem

Broad, Rosemary Dunlop (2007) Hypodontia and self-esteem. MSc(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to endeavour to characterise those subjects referred to the Hypodontia Clinic at Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, with special reference to the patterns of congenitally missing teeth and their associated genes. Furthermore, the degree to which hypodontia affects adolescent subjects was investigated, with specific regard to self-esteem. In order to characterise those subjects who attended the Hypodontia Clinic at Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, a hypodontia database was constructed to record the findings of their clinical assessment. To record how adolescent subjects with hypodontia felt about their teeth and their treatment needs, participants of 13-18 years of age, were invited to complete the Hosey-Bradnock questionnaire. This is a piloted but not published questionnaire. To evaluate the self-esteem of adolescent subjects with hypodontia, participants aged 13-18 years, were invited to complete the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory, which has been validated and published. A control group of subjects without hypodontia, also aged 13-18 years, attending the Community Dental Clinic in Clydebank, were invited to complete only the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory. Seventy one subjects were recruited for inclusion in the hypodontia database. The characterisation of the participants mirrored expected trends in respect of the most common missing teeth, gender ratio, presenting complaint and treatment. There was, however, an unexpected and unexplained preponderance of missing maxillary canines. The patterns of sixty seven of these subjects were able to be interpreted, in respect of the gene markers of Msx 1 and Pax 9. Another possible gene marker, transforming growth factor alpha (TGFA), was also included, in the light of the high involvement of missing maxillary lateral incisors in the patterns observed. The results showed that in this sample that, only three subjects showed patterns of missing teeth which correlated to the specific pattern of congenitally missing teeth identified for Msx 1 and Pax 9. The majority of the patterns were thought to either be the result of mutations of Msx 1, Pax 9 or an unknown gene or, interactions between Msx 1, Pax 9, TGFA and an unknown gene or genes, in combinations. Despite, the selection criteria excluding those with syndromes, there was also the possibility that some subjects within this sample were either, carrier status for or, had undiagnosed syndromes. Ectodermal dysplasia was thought of, as the prime suspect. Only genetic analysis of the sample would eliminate or confirm this suspicion. The Hosey-Bradnock questionnaire was completed by 28 subjects with hypodontia. Of these, 20 (71%), complained about the appearance of their teeth, the vast majority highlighting spaces and gaps. Twenty one of this sample had one or more upper anterior teeth missing. Furthermore, 18 (64%) subjects "hated" or "disliked" their teeth. These aforementioned 28 subjects with hypodontia and 30 controls accepted the invitation to participate in the controlled study to evaluate the self-esteem of adolescents with hypodontia. The Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory had an inbuilt "lie detector" within it, so that the measure of self-esteem, the Global Self-Esteem Quotient (GSEQ) of only truthful subjects was analysed statistically. The Mann-Whitney test showed that the hypodontia subjects did not have a lowered self-esteem (p=0.8). This was a gratifying, but surprising result, given that the vast majority of the adolescent hypodontia subjects complained about appearance of their teeth. These subjects and their parents obviously deemed teeth and their appearance to be a priority or they would not attend the appointments or embark on often complex treatment plans. This finding of the lack of lowered self-esteem, may be attributed to the fact that these subjects realised there was a problem but they, and their parents/guardians had coped with it by accessing the services for corrective treatment. Furthermore, positive support from parents can only promote positive esteem and wellbeing in their children.

• Item Type: Thesis (MSc(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Additional Information: Adviser: Mary-Therese Hosey
• Keywords: Dentistry
• Date of Award: 2007
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2007-74253
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 23 Sep 2019 15:33
• Last Modified: 23 Sep 2019 15:33
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/74253