Frequency and pattern of impacted Canines in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional radiographic study

OBJECTIVES: Impacted canine (IC) is a dental anomaly that varies in its frequency according to the population of interest. The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency and distribution pattern of maxillary ICs (MxIC) and mandibular ICs (MnIC) in the population of Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional retrospective study of all patients attended Taibah University Dental Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Inclusion criteria were individuals aged 15 years and older and no history of orthodontic treatment or craniofacial syndromes. Patients with incomplete dental records or missing/distorted Orthopantomograph (OPG) were excluded. All OPGs were taken using standardized equipment. Data were explored for frequency and pattern of canine impaction both in the maxilla and the mandible and statistically tested to detect significant differences. RESULTS: A total of 7466 individuals fulfilled the inclusion criteria with mean age of 37.43 ± 14.5 years. Of the total sample, 173 individuals had at least one IC. MxIC alone occurred in 86.71% of the cases, while MnIC occurred in 8.67%. The remaining 4.62% had at least one IC in each jaw. Unilateral IC occurred in 89.2% of the cases with left-side predominance in the maxilla. CONCLUSION: In this sample, the frequency of MxIC was 2.1% and MnIC was 0.3%. Almost equal distribution of IC occurred between females and males (IC Odds ratio F:M 1:1.08). Further studies are required to investigate the potential association of IC incidence with other predictor variables.