Multiple impacted permanent teeth, an indicator for early detection of hypoparathyroidism: A rare case report

Eruption is a process of continuous movement of the developing tooth bud from its developmental location to functional location. Teeth that cease to erupt before emergence to their functional position in the oral cavity are termed as impactions. In permanent dentition, third molars are the most frequently impacted teeth followed by the canines. When impaction involves few teeth, the condition is localized but when it involves multiple teeth, the condition becomes generalized and is often associated with some derangement of the normal physiological processes. Factors causing impactions may be localized, pertaining to the area or, systemic or, generalized including bone disorders such as cleidocranial dysplasia and/or some sort of endocrinological disturbance such as hypoparathyroidism. Hypoparathyroidism is a rare endocrinological disorder accompanied by anomalies of various systems including bones and teeth. The dental defects due to hypoparathyroidism may present as hypocalcemia, aplasia and/or hypoplasia, defects of mineralization, short and blunted roots, delayed eruptions, and clinically missing or impacted teeth. This report describes an interesting and unusual case where multiple impacted permanent teeth and retained primary teeth accompanied by other clinical manifestations in a 16-year-old female patient probed the clinicians for further investigations which, eventually, aided in early diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism.