Prevalence and distribution of malposed canines in young adults: A cross-sectional clinical study

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of malposed permanent canines in young adults according to gender, dental arch (maxillary and mandibular), position (buccal and lingual), laterality (right and left sides), and Angle's classification of malocclusion (class I, II, and III).

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional clinical study was conducted on 302 undergraduate dental students (170 males and 132 females) aged between 19-24 years. Each participant underwent a careful intra-oral clinical examination to determine the malposed canines. Canine malposition was recorded, and data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: This study found that 113 participants had malposed canines, giving an overall prevalence 37.4%. Females showed a higher prevalence (47.0%) of canine malposition than males (30.0%). Slightly more malposed canines in the mandibular arch (51.3%) than in the maxillary arch (48.7%). Buccal canine malposition was the most frequent (95.6%) of cases. Also, right-side canine malposition (54.9%) was more frequent than left-side (45.1%). The majority of malposed canines were recorded in Class I malocclusion (73.45%).

Conclusions: Canine malposition is a common clinical finding among young adults. The strong association between Class I malocclusion and malposed canines indicates that canine malposition is mainly affected by local eruption factors rather than skeletal sagittal discrepancies. These findings showed the importance of early clinical examination and interceptive orthodontic treatments to decrease the complexity of future orthodontic treatment.