Change in the inclination of the maxillary permanent canines during developmental age in patients of the orthodontic clinic

Monitoring of inclination of maxillary cuspids during their pre-eruption is an integral part of the complex orthodontic diagnosis.

Aim
The aim of this study was to analyze the patterns of physiological changes in inclination of the long axis of permanent maxillary cuspids during their eruption in patients admitted to the orthodontic clinic.

Material and methods
The research material comprised orthopantomograms and cephalograms of 360 boys and girls. The dental age of patients was calculated according to Demirjian, the measurements of changes in the angle of inclination of the long axis in the maxilla were made in successive age groups and the morphology of malocclusion of patients was assessed.

Results
The eruption of permanent maxillary cuspids involves significant changes in the long-axis inclination of these teeth in each age group. The degree of long axis mesialization increases during the eruption of the cuspids before the age of 9 whereas at that specific age, that axis becomes vertical. Furthermore, significant differences in the average values of inclination of cuspid teeth between patients with I, II and III skeletal classes were observed. In case of skeletal class II defects, the degree of mesial inclination of cuspids is greater than in the case of patients with class I, whereas skeletal class III defects are dominated by verticalization of the long axis of maxillary cuspids.

Conclusions
Knowledge of changes in the degree of inclination of the permanent maxillary cuspids may be useful in the diagnosis of the ectopic orthodontic eruption thereof , with particular emphasis on the palatal stop of these teeth.