Dentoskeletal characteristics in patients with palatally and buccally displaced maxillary permanent canines

The aim of this retrospective study was to analyse dentoskeletal characteristics in patients with eruption disturbances of the maxillary permanent canines. Pre-treatment panoramic radiographs and lateral cephalograms of 636 consecutive orthodontic patients were assessed. The control group included 456 patients with physiologically erupted maxillary permanent canines (261 females and 195 males, mean age 12.6 and 12.4 years, respectively). The other groups comprised 144 subjects with palatally displaced canines (PDCs) (92 females and 52 males, mean age 14.2 and 14.7 years, respectively) and 36 patients with buccally displaced canines (BDCs) (16 females and 20 males, mean age 12.4 and 12.8 years, respectively). The selected dentoskeletal parameters were compared with classic cephalometric norms using the method of analysis of variance, chi-square, and Fisher's exact tests. The PDC patients showed a significantly more prognathic maxilla, a significantly more frequent occurrence of skeletal class I, retroinclination of maxillary central incisors, hypodivergent relationship, and mandibular anteriorotation and less frequent posteriorotation. A significantly more frequent retrognathic maxilla and skeletal class III and less frequent retroinclination of the maxillary central incisors were found in the BDC patients. The results of this study indicate the existence of different facial morphology and more likely also etiopathogenesis of eruption disturbances of the canines in the PDC and BDC patients.