Diagnosis and localization of impacted maxillary canines: comparison of methods
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Nigel M. King; Anand K. Sajnani
- Source
- Journal of Investigative and Clinical Dentistry. 4:252-256
- Subject
- Adult
Cuspid
Adolescent
Radiography
Dentistry
Palpation
Young Adult
Radiography, Panoramic
Maxilla
medicine
Humans
Child
Radiography, Bitewing
Vision, Ocular
medicine.diagnostic_test
Impaction
business.industry
Digital palpation
Tooth, Impacted
Maxillary canine
General Medicine
Visual inspection
Diagnostic Techniques, Surgical
Parallax
business
- Language
- ISSN
- 2041-1618
Objectives Numerous clinical signs may be indicative of a canine impaction; however, studies determining the efficiency of visual inspection and digital palpation in localizing an impacted maxillary canine are sparse. Of the radiographic techniques, no studies have compared the accuracy of the horizontal and the vertical parallax techniques to determine the location of an impacted canine. Hence, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficiency of visual inspection and digital palpation, and to compare the accuracy of the horizontal and vertical parallax techniques in determining the location of an impacted maxillary canine. Methods The study sample comprised the records of 522 patients who had attended a dental hospital. The location of an impacted maxillary canine was determined radiographically using the vertical and the horizontal parallax principles. The findings were then confirmed from the surgical records in those cases that had undergone surgical intervention of the impacted canine. Results The position of the impacted canine was determined successfully by visual inspection and digital palpation in 85.3 and 85.2% of the cases respectively. Conclusions The vertical parallax technique demonstrated a higher degree of accuracy (97.7%) and a greater degree of diagnostic capability (98.2%) when compared with the horizontal parallax technique (92.6 and 78.0% respectively).