Dental age in patients with impacted maxillary canines related to the position of the impacted teeth

The aim of the study was to determine whether there are differences in dental age (DA) using the method of Demirjian, in patients with impacted buccal or palatal maxillary canines in relation to unaffected controls. DA was estimated using Demirjian's method on panoramic radiographs of two groups of Caucasian patients. The study group consisted of 116 patients aged from 12 to 16 years (80 females and 36 males) that was further divided into 54 patients with unilateral or bilateral palatally impacted maxillary canines and 62 patients with buccally positioned canines. The control group of 116 subjects without canine impaction was matched to the study group by age and gender. Calculated DAs and differences between dental and chronological age (CA) were compared between the groups. Statistical analysis was performed using Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney U, and Student's t-test. DA was significantly lower in patients with impacted maxillary canines than in healthy controls and also when palatal or buccal ectopia was considered. The rate of dental development in patients with palatally impacted canines did not differ from that of subjects with buccal canine displacement. The differences between DA and CA were higher in healthy controls (increase in DA) than in patients with impacted maxillary canines. DA estimation using Demirjian's method may be lower than expected in subjects with maxillary canine impaction.