Impacted Canine in Orthodontic Patients of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Impacted canine is a frequently encountered clinical problem during orthodontic practice with different prevalence in each region. Treatment usually requires an interdisciplinary approach which is difficult and time consuming. Surgical exposure of the impacted tooth and the complex orthodontic mechanisms are used to align the tooth into the arch. This study was designed to find out the prevalence of impacted canine in orthodontic patients.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was done with hospital records of patients from 15 to 38 years of age visited department of Orthodontics at a tertiary care hospital from August 2020 to March 2021 after obtaining ethical clearance from the institutional review committee. Convenience sampling method was used. Patients Orthopantomogram and clinical notes were thoroughly evaluated. To locate position of impacted canine cone-beam computed tomography images were used. The data was collected and entered in Microsoft Excel. Point estimate at 99% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data.

Out of 1008 patients, 44 (4.37%) (2.71-6.03 at 99% Confidence Interval) patients had impacted canines. Among them, maxillary canine impaction was seen in 38 (3.77%) and mandibular canine impaction in 6 (0.60%).

The overall prevalence of impacted canines was found lower than previous studies done in similar settings. Large number of patients had buccal impaction compared to palatal impaction.