Prevalence of impacted canines among dental patients-A retrospective study

Abstract

Impacted canines are those teeth which fail to erupt to their normal position in the arch and do not display any radiographic or clinical evidence of spontaneous eruption beyond chronological age. Maxillary canines are the third most common teeth to be impacted in the permanent dentition. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of impacted canines among dental patients. The retrospective study involved analysis of case records of patients with impacted canines and assessment was based on the following parameters: Age, gender, and quadrant of impaction. Using SPSS Version 20.0, categorical variables were expressed as frequency and percentage, continuous variables as mean and SD; and Chi-square test was used to determine the association between categorical variables. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The sample size of the study was 54. Highest prevalence of canine impactions was observed in males (51.9%). According to the age group, impacted canines were most prevalent in the age group of 21-30 years (31.48%) and in the 2nd quadrant (38.9%). The association between gender and quadrant of impaction was statistically significant with p-value 0.03. According to our study it can be concluded that in the South Indian population, the maxillary canine impactions were more prevalent than mandibular canine impactions. Males reportedly had higher prevalence of canine impactions than females and in the age group of 21-30 years. A significant association between gender and quadrant of canine impaction has been observed with higher prevalence of impactions of canine in the 2nd quadrant in case of females and in the 1st quadrant in case of males.