Mesiodens: the most common case of hyperdontia – presentation of radiological cases

Abstract

Mesiodens is the most common case of supernumerary teeth. It is a very usual developmental abnormality of permanent dentition, either accompanied or not by painful symptomatology and other pathological findings. Mesiodens are often detected by chance, through patients' radiological examination for other reasons. So, radiology and its methods assist in the radiographic estimation of a mesiodens. The purpose of this study is to present the valuable contribution of oral radiology in detecting asymptomatic mesiodens and determining their exact position. Four radiological cases have been chosen for this study. The four patients belong to different age groups (29, 9, 64 and 71 years old accordingly) and are of both genders. Each one came to the School of Dentistry for different dental treatments. Three different radiological technoques of oral radiology have been applied for their examination, namely periapical, panoramic and cone-beam computed tomography radiographs. In all cases, the mesiodens were impacted and asymptomatic, thus detected by chance through the conducted radiographic evaluation. In case of mesiodens, radiology contributes significantly in determining the tooth's characteristics, as in most cases the mesiodens is impacted. All eadiographic methodologies presented in this studyare essential not only for the diagnosis, but also for the surgical management of mesiodens. In case of prosthodontic treatment in edentulous patients, orthodontic treatment or at the presence of pathological findings, the impacted mesiodens should be extracted, Otherwise, the decision depends on the clinical and radiological findings.