[The etiology of canine tooth impaction--a space analysis]

The aim of this study was to examine to what extent excess space must be taken into consideration as an etiological factor in upper canine impaction with special attention paid to the role of the adjacent laterals. To clarify this question the pre- and post-treatment models of 63 patients with a total of 84 impacted cuspids were measured and the cephalograms of 116 patients having 144 impacted cuspids were analyzed. The results of this study revealed: 84.5% of the cuspids were palatally impacted while 15.5% were labially impacted. An arch deficiency was found in only 18% of the palatally impacted cuspids, whereas there was an arch-length deficiency in 46% of the buccally impacted. In 35% of the cases there was a correlation between peg shaped laterals and palatal impaction, however, such was not present in the patients with vestibular retention. Finally the cephalometric data revealed horizontal growth characteristics in 80% of the palatally impacted canines as opposed to 23% in those labially impacted.