Dental age in children with impacted maxillary canines

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Orthodontics
• Pediatric Dentistry

Background:

• Impacted maxillary canine (IMC) is a common dental anomaly.
• The relationship between delayed dental development and the timing of care for IMC is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if delayed dental development in children and adolescents with impacted maxillary canine (IMC) influences the timing of their dental care.
• To determine the clinical relevance of dental development delays in IMC patients.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 1028 children and adolescents (9-16 years) in Sweden.
• Compared 514 patients with IMC to 514 age- and gender-matched controls.
• Assessed dental age using Demirjian's method on panoramic radiographs.

Main Results:

• Patients with IMC showed a minor average delay of 0.2 years in dental development compared to controls.
• A significant dental age delay was observed in female patients, those aged 12-13 years, and those with palatally impacted canines.
• The observed differences in dental age were deemed of minor clinical relevance.

Conclusions:

• The dental development delay associated with impacted maxillary canine (IMC) is statistically significant but clinically minor.
• The timing for preventive care and treatment for IMC patients should not differ from that of patients with normally erupting canines.
• Standardized treatment protocols can be applied to patients with IMC regardless of minor developmental delays.