Palatal Displacement of Maxillary Canines and Maxillary Transverse Dimensions

ABSTRACT

Background: The maxillary permanent canines play a key role in smile design. Any morphological defect or eruption anomaly, affecting the maxillary permanent canine has a negative impact on the smile and facial esthetics of the person. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a clinically significant association exists between maxillary transverse dimension and palatally displaced canines (PDC). Methods: Twenty-four subjects (8 males and 16 females) with PDC were matched to twenty-four subjects (8 males and 16 females) without PDC (control) for age, sex and posterior occlusion. Prior to any orthodontic treatment, a CBCT scan was taken on all the patients. On axial and coronal sections of CBCT images, the maxillary basal bone widths and interdental widths at the maxillary first premolars, second premolars and first molars were measured. Results: The maxillary basal bone widths and interdental widths at the maxillary first premolars, second premolars and first molars between the subjects with palatally displaced canines and the control group showed no statistically significant differences in their means, thus indicating that there was no statistically significant difference in maxillary transverse dimensions between the affected subjects and the control subjects. Conclusion: Skeletal and dental maxillary transverse width was not related to the occurrence of palatally displaced canine. Thus, affected patients exhibit adequacy of maxillary dental arch width