The incidence of canine transmigration and tooth impaction in a Turkish subpopulation

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of transmigrated maxillary and mandibular canine teeth and also of the other impacted teeth in a Turkish subpopulation. Five thousand consecutive panoramic radiographs taken of patients who attended the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Selcuk University, for routine examination between 2005 and 2007 were examined to identify incidences of transmigrated and impacted teeth. Demographic information of all patients was also recorded. Transmigrations were categorized according to the classification of Mupparapu. The effect of age, gender, and sidedness (left or right side) on the recorded abnormality was evaluated using a t-test. The incidence of transmigrated upper and lower canine teeth was found to be 0.34 per cent [17 patients, 12 females/5 males, with a mean age of 34 years (range 16-76 years)] and 0.14 per cent [7 patients, 4 females/3 males, with a mean age of 37.1 years (range 17-62 years)]. The incidence of tooth impaction was 2.94 per cent [147 patients, 101 females/46 males, with a mean age of 29.7 years (range 15-80 years)]. The most frequently impacted tooth was the upper canine followed by the lower canine, lower second premolar, and upper second premolar. No incidence of maxillary first molar impaction was found. Gender and sidedness did not show a statistical significance on the recorded abnormality (P = 0.22 and P = 0.48, respectively). However, in the 15-29 year age group, this was statistically different (P < 0.05). The incidence of transmigration of impacted mandibular canine teeth was greater than other teeth. With the increased use of panoramic radiographs, it is inevitable that diagnosis of such anomalies will increase.