Resorbed lateral incisors adjacent to impacted canines have normal crown size

The importance of detecting maxillary canine impaction is that it may compromise dental health, particularly since a small but significant proportion of impacted canines is associated with the resorption of the roots of neighboring teeth. It has been shown that the existence of small and peg-shaped lateral incisors is highly correlated with maxillary canine palatal impaction. To date, however, it has not been established whether the root resorption that occurs has a similar correlation or a predilection for one or other types of lateral incisor crown structure. Accordingly, a group of patients with buccally or palatally impacted canines, in which root resorption of the lateral incisor could be diagnosed roentgenographically, was examined and compared with a group of cases with palatally impacted canines, none of which showed root resorption, which served as controls. The mesiodistal crown dimension of the lateral incisor in the experimental group was found to be normal in all patients except three (13%), which was significantly different from the distribution of lateral incisor size in the control group (p < 0.001). In the majority of the cases, aggressive root resorption of the lateral incisor root had occurred. We would speculate that in these cases, the normal-sized and early developing lateral incisor root obstructs the deviated eruption path of the canine and consequently stands a considerably greater chance of being damaged by resorption.