Dental and occlusal features in patients with palatally displaced maxillary canines

PDCs occurred most frequently in subjects with a Class I occlusion. Sixteen per cent of the PDC subjects had congenital absence or peg-shaped lateral incisors or congenital absence of the second premolar, demonstrating a clear association between palatal impaction of the maxillary canine and anomalous or congenital tooth absence. The overjet was significantly smaller in the PDC female subjects, especially in those with unilateral impaction (P < 0.05). Overbite was significantly greater in PDC male subjects compared with the controls, especially in bilateral impaction cases. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups with regard to the maxillary transverse dimensions, maxillary MD widths, or palatal height for either gender.