Investigation of dentoalveolar structures in patients with unilateral impacted canine using cone-beam computed tomography

The aim of this study was to investigate the external root resorption, dentoalveolar, and skeletal structures in unilateral impacted canine cases and to evaluate the effect of the location of the impacted canine on these structures using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Pretreatment CBCT images of 54 patients (35 females and 19 males) with the mean age of 15.58±4.25 years were included in this retrospective, split-mouth study. In this study, impacted side constitutes the study group and non-impaction side constitutes the control group. The impacted side was re-divided into two subgroups: as palatally and buccally impacted canines. One rater analyzed the cone-beam computed tomography data for qualitative and quantitative variables of the teeth, dental arch, and skeletal components. The measurements were compared by using analytical statistical methods. The percentage of frequency of external root resorption (ERR) in central and lateral incisors in the impacted canine group was found to be higher than in the non-impacted canine group (respectively, p=0.002, p<0.001). A statistically significant difference was found between the impacted and non-impacted groups in terms of degree of ERR in central and lateral incisors (respectively, p=0.033, p<0.001). Canine follicle size was found greater in the impacted canine group, while maxillary arch length, maxillary transversal width, maxillary skeletal width, and nasal cavity width were found to be lower compared to the non-impacted canine group (respectively, p<0.001, p=0.002, p=0.006, p=0.005, p=0.001). We suggest that early diagnosis and treatment in patients with impacted canines may be effective in preventing root resorption and possible tooth loss in the future. According to the results of this study, impacted maxillary canines increases the incidence and severity of root resorption in adjacent teeth. Early diagnosis of impacted canines may be effective in preventing root resorption and possible tooth loss in the future. Keywords: Impacted canine, cone-beam computed tomography, root resorption.