Maxillary canine impaction increases root resorption risk of adjacent teeth: a problem of physical proximity.

INTRODUCTION: Our objectives were to investigate the prevalence, resorption location and extent, and potential risk factors for impacted canine-associated root resorption (ICARR) in Chinese patients, who, unlike white patients, have predominantly buccal maxillary canine impactions.

METHODS: Pretreatment cone-beam computed tomography scans of 170 Chinese subjects (ages, 12-30 years; mean, 14.5 years) with impacted maxillary canines (101 buccal and 69 palatal impactions) and 170 age- and sex-matched subjects without impactions were used. All cone-beam computed tomography records were evaluated in software programs by 1 rater. The prevalence, location, and extent of ICARR at the maxillary lateral incisor, central incisor, and first premolar were analyzed. To identify risk factors for ICARR, the subjects with impacted canine were divided into 2 groups (with and without root resorption). Measurements of 10 variables were individually compared between the groups and then tested together by using binary logistic regressions for each tooth.

RESULTS: Compared with the control subjects and the side of nonimpaction, root resorption was significantly more prevalent in the canine-impaction subjects and the side of impaction (P <0.01), with overall prevalence rates of 27%,18%, and 10% at the maxillary lateral incisor, the central incisor, and the first premolar, respectively. Predominantly affecting the apical third of all teeth, ICARR, if present, reached the pulp of the maxillary lateral incisor, the central incisor, and the first premolar at rates of 36%, 57%, and 0%, respectively. Individually, variables reflecting the proximity to the impacted maxillary canine had different measurements (P <0.05) between the impaction sites (maxillary quadrants) with and without root resorption for each tooth, whereas the canine development stage factor was only significant for the maxillary central and lateral incisors. No significant difference of ICARR prevalence was found between subjects with buccal and palatal impactions. Combined, the contact relationship was the dominant predictor for ICARR at all teeth, with "in contact" (<1 mm separation) having the largest and most significant increase of root resorption likelihood compared with "out of contact" (≥1 mm separation); odds ratios were 9.9, 3.7, and 5.9 for the maxillary lateral incisor, the central incisor, and the first premolar, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Maxillary canine impaction increases the risk of root resorption at adjacent teeth (incisors and first premolars). Physical proximity (<1 mm) between the impacted canine and an adjacent root is the most important predictor for root resorption, and this characteristic is largely similar in Chinese patients to that in white people.