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What you need to know about supernumeraries

BDJ Student volume 28, pages 38–39 (2021)Cite this article

By Emily McIlvanna, Foundation Dentist

A supernumerary tooth is one that is additional to the normal series and can be found in almost any region of the dental arch.1 The estimated prevalence in the primary and permanent dentitions is 0.8% and 2% respectively.2 Presence of multiple supernumeraries is commonly associated with conditions such as cleft lip and palate, cleidocranial dysplasia and Gardner syndrome. The aetiology of supernumerary teeth is not completely understood, but it is thought to be a result of dichotomy of the tooth bud or localised hyperactivity of the dental lamina.1 Males are affected approximately twice as frequently as females in the permanent dentition and the most common supernumerary tooth presents in the anterior maxilla (mesiodens).1

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References

  1. Garvey M T, Barry H J, Blake M. Supernumerary Teeth - An Overview of Classification, Diagnosis and Management. J Can Dent Assoc 1999; 65: 612-616.

  2. Brook A H. Dental anomalies of number, form and size: their prevalence in British schoolchildren. J Int Assoc Dent Child 1974; 5: 37-53.

  3. Welbury R, Duggal M and Hosey MH. Paediatric Dentistry. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

  4. British Orthodontic Society (2010) Managing the Developing Occlusion: A guide for dental practitioners, London.

  5. Di Biase D D. The effects of variations in tooth morphology and position on eruption. Dent Pract Dent Rec 1971; 22: 95-108.

  6. Ashkenazi M, Greenberg B P, Chodik G, Rakocz M. Postoperative prognosis of unerupted teeth after removal of supernumerary teeth or odontomas. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2007; 131: 614-619.

  7. Yaqoob O, O'Neill J, Patel S et al. (2016) Management of unerupted maxillary incisors, London: Royal College of Surgeons in England.

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  1. Devlin Dental Practice, 55 Thomas Street, BT70 1HW, Dungannon, UK

    Emily McIlvana

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  1. Emily McIlvana
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Correspondence to Emily McIlvana.

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McIlvana, E. What you need to know about supernumeraries. BDJ Student 28, 38–39 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41406-021-0197-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41406-021-0197-3

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