Mandibular talon's cusp.

DESCRIPTION A healthy 18-year-old male patient came for a routine dental examination. His medical history was uneventful. Mandibular left central incisors exhibited small prominent cusp on its lingual surface (figure 1). The cusp was teatlike, projected from the cement–enamel junction and extended halfway to the incisal edge. The cusp measured 4.5 mm in length (incisocervically), 3.5 mm in width (mesiodistally) and approximately 3 mm in thickness (labiolingually). A small bridge of enamel connected the talon to the lingual surface (figure 2). The affected tooth was responsive to electrical pulp testing. Intraoral periapical radiograph revealed that appearance of a talon’s cusp was similar to that of normal tooth material, presented with radiopaque enamel, dentine and pulp horn in the lingual cuspid of dens evaginatus (talon’s cusp) (figure 3). A diagnosis of talon’s cusp of mandibular central incisors was made. No treatment was required because the patient did not experience pain or discomfort during biting. Talon’s cusp is a developmental anomaly characterised as a supernumerary, cusp-like structure projecting from the cemento-enamel junction to a variable distance towards the incisal edge of an anterior tooth from the palatal or buccal surface of tooth. Dens evaginatus is preferred when describing posterior teeth with accessory cusp-like projections. 3 Its aetiology is multifactorial and includes genetic, environmental factors and hyperactivity of the enamel