Mesiodens - etiology, prevalence, diagnosis and management

ABSTRACT

Mesiodens is a supernumerary tooth located in the premaxilla between the two central incisors that causes a variety of dental problems such as impaired dentofacial aesthetics, malocclusion, and sometimes may lead to cyst formation. The prevalence of mesiodens ranges from 0.15% to 1.9%. The current literature review focuses on the etiology, prevalence, diagnosis and management of this problem. Several electronic data bases were selected. Hand searching was done to short list relevant articles. A total of 65 studies were initially retrieved out of which 53 relevant studies were selected for the review. Mesiodens is the most common type of supernumerary tooth that may cause impaired dentofacial esthetics and malocclusion. Males are more prone to be affected than the females. Mesiodens is the most common reported type of supernumerary tooth occurring in permanent dentition. An in-depth evaluation of mesiodens would be helpful to develop significant clinical management of the affected patients