Objective: To find out the prevalence of supernumerary teeth in a population of patients who reported to School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, Greater Noida.
Background: Supernumerary are the teeth present in addition to the normal number of teeth. They can be single or multiple, unilateral or bilateral, erupted or impacted, and in one or both jaws.
Patients & Methods: The study was conducted on 1000 patients who reported to the School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, for dental treatment. Case history & clinical details of the oral cavity were entered in a case history performa, which included the age, sex, location, morphology, type of supernumerary tooth and also whether it was associated with any complications. Radiographs (IOPA/OPG) were taken to confirm the clinical findings and the data collected was analysed statistically.
Results: Out of 1000 patients, supernumerary teeth were detected in 19 cases. Of the total 19 supernumerary teeth, 12 (63%) were located in the maxilla, while 7 (37%) were located in the mandible. The mean age of the patients was 25 years (age range 18–50 years) and the incidence was found to be more common in males (n=12) than females (n=7). The most common supernumerary tooth was mesiodens, located between the maxillary central incisors (n=9), followed by parapremolars (n=5), distomolars (n=3) and paramolars (n=2). 11 of the supernumerary teeth were impacted while 8 were erupted. Three-fourth of the cases (n= 15) were morhologically deformed. Complications associated were mainly displacement of adjacent teeth, crowding, and ectopic eruption, resulting in malocclusion (n=14) and resorption of adjacent teeth (n=5).
Conclusion: Supernumerary teeth are of great concern to the dentist as well as the patient owing to its associated complications. Clinical and radiographic identification of all these teeth are important for good treatment planning.
