Evaluation of Cause, Severity, Complications, and Treatment of Maxillary Canine Impaction: Dental Specialists' Perspectives

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate dental specialists' perspectives on the causes, severity, treatments, and complications of maxillary canine impaction. Methods: A non validated questionnaire was designed and used to gather information from orthodontists, prosthodontists, surgeons, and general dentists, between June and July 2022. The survey was posted online and advertised on the official website of Cluj Dentists’ College. Practitioner's experience with tooth impaction, the cause of the impaction, the type of radiographic investigation, treatment options, and a rating of the degree of treatment difficulty and complications using panoramic radiography and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) were collected. Results: One hundred and nine dentists participated. In their practice, the maxillary canine was the most frequently encountered impacted tooth (85.32%); the most frequent etiology of impaction was lack of space (95.4%). The difficulty of a case of maxillary canine impaction on CBCT was considered lower by surgeons vs. general dentists (-30.52, 95% CI (-60.31 to -0.74), p=0.047), in case of distance from canine cusp tip to the occlusal plane is considered in interceptive treatment (25.56, 95% CI (2.09 to 49.02), p=0.035), and decreased in case of deciduous canine extraction is considered to aid treatment (-27.15, 95%CI (-51.38 to -2.93), p=0.03). Conclusions: Differences between specialists’ level of knowledge was observed, the orthodontists being followed by general dentists, surgeons, and prosthodontists. The difficulty of a case was rated higher on CBCT than on panoramic radiography. The difficulty of a case was perceived to be lower by surgeons compared to general dentists.