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.