A comparative analysis of patients with mesiodenses: a clinical and radiological study

OBJECTIVES: A mesiodens appears most commonly as a supernumerary tooth impacted in the anterior maxilla. The purpose of this study is analyze mesiodens clinically. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gender, crown form, direction of impaction, relation to permanent incisors, and chief complaints of patients with extracted mesiodens were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients were analyzed for motivation to visit the hospital; 85.4% of the patients were referred from other hospitals. Mesiodens was more common in males than in females (3.7:1), and 70.1% of patients had only one mesiodens, while 29.6% had two mesiodenses. Of the mesiodenses, 61.4% were of the aconical form, and the most common direction was upward (62.4%), followed by the normal position (26.0%) and the horizontal position (11.6%). The mesiodenses caused orthodontic problems with the permanent incisors in 46.3% of cases. Mesiodens associated with dentigerous cyst was rarely observed in our patient group. CONCLUSION: Mesiodens is more common in males than in females and often affects the permanent incisors. Thus, careful clinical and radiological evaluations of mesiodenses are important.