Influence of mesiodens on adjacent teeth and the timing of its safe removal

Majd Barham; Shunsuke Okada; Miki Hisatomi; Abdullah Khasawneh; Nouha Tekiki; Yohei Takeshita; Toshiyuki Kawazu; Mariko Fujita; Yoshinobu Yanagi; Junichi Asaumi

doi:10.5624/isd.20210218

Influence of mesiodens on adjacent teeth and the timing of its safe removal

Imaging Sci Dent. 2022 Mar;52(1):67-74. doi: 10.5624/isd.20210218. Epub 2022 Jan 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
² Department of Oral Diagnosis and Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan.
³ Department of Dental Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
⁴ Oral Examination and Diagnosis Center, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan.

Abstract

Purpose: To focus on the effects of the presence of mesiodens on adjacent teeth and to investigate the timing of its safe removal.

Materials and methods: Cone-beam computed tomography examinations, obtained at Okayama University Hospital over a three-year period, were inspected. Data were recorded including the number of mesiodens; associated abnormalities; and the relationship with neighboring structures. Depending on multiple factors, the risk of developing complications due to early extraction of a mesiodens was divided into three categories: high, medium, and low risk.

Results: A total of 5,958 cone-beam computed tomography exams were obtained, 460 patients aged 3-85 years were diagnosed with a total of 568 mesiodens, 382 (67.3%) of which were discovered in young patients (age <10 years), and 333 (87.2%) of these were associated with abnormalities. Regarding the risk categories, 11 (1.9%) were considered to be in the high-risk, five (0.9%) in the medium-risk and 552 (97.2%) in the low-risk categories. Moreover, eight out of 11 high-risk mesiodens were extracted and no post-operative complications have been seen.

Conclusion: As the results showed that no postoperative complications were seen in all the extracted cases of high-risk mesiodens, this indicates the possibility of safe extraction at an early age which could reduce related future complications.

Keywords: Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; Tooth Extraction; Tooth, Supernumerary.