RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of aetiological factors associated with unerupted maxillary incisors and to follow the outcome of treatment in a study of 47 cases. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: The Dental Department, St Luke's Hospital, Malta, the School Dental Clinic of Malta and the private practices of two orthodontists in Malta. SAMPLE AND METHODS: Forty-seven patients with a total of 53 unerupted maxillary incisors were classified according to the aetiological factors causing non-eruption. The relative prevalence of the various aetiologies were ascertained, and the outcome after treatment was recorded to assess the efficacy of the treatment methods being used. RESULTS: The most common cause of lack of eruption was the presence of supernumerary teeth (47% of patients). The other 53% of cases were distributed more or less equally between the remaining aetiological factors, which were odontomes (9%), dilacerations (9%), tooth germ malposition (12%), crowding (4%), one case of a calcifying odontogenic cyst (2%) and one case of trauma to the preceding deciduous tooth (2%). The aetiology of 15% of cases could not be ascertained. Once supernumerary teeth were removed, maxillary incisors usually erupted successfully with the help of conventional treatment methods such as surgical exposure and orthodontics. A relatively large number of incisors that failed to erupt due to other aetiological factors had to be extracted. CONCLUSIONS: Maxillary incisors that fail to erupt due to the presence of supernumerary teeth have a better prognosis than unerupted incisors with less common aetiologies.