Occurrence of midline diastema and frenum attachments amongst school children in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of midline diastema, tongue tie and frenum attachments amongst school children in Nairobi. A total of 1802 children aged between 4 and 16 years were selected randomly using multistage sampling technique. To avoid oversampling in either sex, a proportionate sampling procedure was used. Thereafter, a thorough intra-oral examination was carried out using a mouth mirror under artificial or natural light with the children lying on a supine position. Presence or absence of midline interdental spaces unusually bigger than other interdental spaces were noted and recorded on a prepared dateacollection form. Accurate location of the origin of the frenum was done using Placek et al Morphological-functional classification of the labial frenum attachments. Data was analyzed manually by tally method. Results showed that 35% had upper and lower midline diastema. 55% were females and 45% were males. Their mean age was 7.6 years. 0.2% had a high lingual frenum. The commonest location of frenum attachment amongst children with lower midline diastema was the mucogingival junction (86%) whereas amongst those with upper midline diastema it was attached gingiva (50%). None of the children had frenum attachment on the interdental papilla. It was concluded that the maxilla had a higher prevalence of midline diastema than the mandible and that papillary penetrating frenum attachments amongst these patients were higher in the maxilla than the mandible.