IS THERE AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN TOOTH DELAY AND ODONTOMA? A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY DURING THE PERIOD 1995-2015

AIMS: Odontoma are considered to be the most common odontogenic tumour of the oral cavity. The exact aetiology of odontomes is still not known. Most odontomes are asymptomatic and are discovered during routine radiographic investigations and can cause disturbances in the eruption of the teeth, most commonly delayed eruption or deflection. MATERIALS AND METHOD: By a retrospective study design, demographic and clinical data regarding patients that presented odontomas from 1995 to 2015 were obtained and the influence of active therapy on the dentition and on the treatment of impacted teeth was analyzed. In order to compare the examined groups with reference to numerical variables, the Kruskal Wallis test was applied. For the only variables that resulted in statistical significance, two-by-two comparisons were performed applying the Mann Whitney test. The Spearman correlation test was used in order to assess the existence of any significant interdependence between the presence of odontoma versus the presence of tooth structured material. RESULTS: Forty five patients (mean age 14.2 years) with 19 complex and 26 compound odontomes were included. Initial symptoms were delayed eruption of permanent teeth (n = 25), pain (n = 6), swellings (n = 4), and no symptoms (n = 10). Thirty one cases were discovered by incidence, all of them via panoramic radiographs. The mandible/maxilla ratio was about 2:1 (31/15). Thirty-two out of 45 odontomas were in close proximity to at least one tooth (n = 21 in the incisal region). A total of 12 teeth were extracted (complex: n = 8; compound: n = 4). Of the non-extracted teeth, 33 were displaced and retained. Of those, 29 teeth were aligned through an orthodontic-surgical approach and four teeth erupted spontaneously after surgery during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Early detection of an odontoma is more likely an accidental radiological finding, hence the need for routine radiographic analysis should be emphasized. Early diagnosis of odontomas in the primary dentition is crucial in order to prevent later complications, such as impaction or failure of eruption of teeth.