Clinical analysis of supplemental maxillary lateral incisors: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Supplemental teeth are supernumerary replicas of normal teeth. They often involve the maxillary lateral incisors (MxLI), affecting both function and aesthetics of anterior dentition.

To investigate the prevalence of supplemental MxLI through panoramic radiographs, analysing distribution patterns and clinical attributes.

We retrieved panoramic radiographs of 146,538 patients treated at Suzhou Stomatological Hospital between January 2014 and December 2024. All instances of supplemental MxLI were identified and recorded for statistical analysis (SPSS v24.0).

The overall rate of supplemental MxLI was 0.205%(300/146538), with male patients accounting for the preponderance (208 vs. 92; p < 0.001). Left and right sides were similarly involved, displaying 146 and 167 supplemental teeth, respectively (p > 0.05). Most supplemental teeth were unilateral (287 [95.67%] and 13 [4.33%]patients have bilateral supplemental teeth; p < 0.01), with 72.67% occurring in mixed dentition. Some (5.67%) were fused with regular MxLI. However, the vast majority (91.00%) were accompanied by tooth torsion, dentition crowding, midline disorder, disturbed eruption of adjacent teeth, or other abnormalities (i.e., supernumerary teeth at other sites, congenitally missing teeth, microdontia of MxLI, tooth developmental delay, and more).

Supplemental MxLI are rarely seen in clinics, occurring at a low rate (0.205%). There is no apparent right or left predilection, but most are unilateral occurrences. On occasion, they may be fused with regular MxLI, and a majority are accompanied by other dental developmental abnormalities. Supplemental MxLI constitute a special variety of supernumerary teeth, creating a number of aesthetic and functional problems. Panoramic radiographs enable early detection of developmental abnormalities during permanent tooth eruption so that reasonable treatment plans may be devised.