Prevalence of Ectopic Eruption of First Permanent Molars in Panoramic Images of 5-8-Year-Old Children in Sari, Mazandaran Province, North of Iran in 2013-2020

Background 

Ectopic eruption is a tooth eruption disorder in which the tooth does not erupt in its proper eruption path. The most common type of ectopic eruption is the mesial eruption of the maxillary first permanent molar, which results in the loss of the second deciduous molars, resulting in a reduction in arch length and loss of space. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of ectopic growth of this tooth in children.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on panoramic radiographic images of children aged between 5-8 years. Census sampling method was used in this study. A general dentist under the supervision of an oral and maxillofacial radiologist assessed ectopic eruption according to a grading system described by Barberia et al., all radiographs. The data was analyzed using SPSS software version 16.0.

772 panoramic radiographs were examined in this study, panoramic radiographs of 79 patients were considered to have ectopic eruption, which 61% of cases were in girls and 39% in boys. 25.6% of the patients had a mild, 60.3% had a moderate, and 14.1% had a severe ectopic eruption. All patients (except one) had a mesial ectopic eruption, 19% of the ectopic eruptions occurred in the maxilla, 59.4% in the mandible, and 59.5% in both jaws. Ectopic eruption in the mandible was more frequent in the mandible than in the maxilla and this finding was statistically significant (P <0.05).

Conclusion :

The results of the present study showed that the frequency of ectopic eruption of the first permanent molars in Sari was 10.2%, which is higher than the values reported in studies in other regions of Iran.