Characteristics of patients referred for Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) of ectopically erupting maxillary canines

The aim was to study the characteristics of patients referred for tomographic examinations of maxillary canines suspected of ectopic eruption and evaluate whether the criteria used for referring the patients could be considered appropriate. During a 1-year-period all patients (n=63) referred for tomographic examinations of ectopically erupting maxillary canines, when intra-oral x-ray examinations were insufficient to describe the position of the canine and the conditions at adjacent teeth, were examined by means of Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). There was a statistically significant overrepresentation of girls (63.5%) among the referred patients. The mean age for the girls was 146.0 +/- 22.2 months and for the boys 151.8 +/- 17.8 months, a statistically non-significant difference. In total, 91 maxillary canine sites were examined and in 33 of the examined sites (36%) a resorption was found in the root surface of an adjacent tooth, in the vast majority the lateral incisor. Since more than one tooth was occasionally affected the total number of resorptions was 38 of which 14 had reached the pulp (37%). Considering the frequency of teeth, adjacent to ectopically erupting maxillary canines, that were affected by resorptions it can be concluded that the referral criteria used were appropriate. Given theyoung age of the patients it can be recommended that tomography should be performed with CBCT techniques that permit the examination of small volumes and result in high quality images.