Postoperative prognosis of unerupted teeth after removal of supernumerary teeth or odontomas

Introduction: Impacted teeth do not always erupt spontaneously after removal of supernumerary teeth or odontomas. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of several variables on eruption of impacted teeth in children with supernumeraries or odontomas. Methods: The sample consisted of 53 patients with 69 impacted teeth; the supernumeraries or odontomas were removed without other interventions. The patients were identified retrospectively and followed until the impacted teeth erupted to their correct positions or until orthodontic traction was started. Results: Loss of space, a second surgical procedure, a third surgical procedure, and orthodontic treatment were recorded in 77.6%, 53.8%, 9.4%, and 85% of the patients, respectively. Spontaneous eruption occurred in 83%, 75%, 46%, 19%, and 32% of the impacted teeth with normal and small size superlative, conical, tuberculated, and odontoma forms, respectively. In the univariate analysis, spontaneous eruption correlated with apex distance of the impacted tooth relative to its estimated position ( P