Early Diagnosis and Management of Supplemental Primary Maxillary Lateral Incisor

A supernumerary tooth is a tooth that is additional to the normal set of teeth and are most commonly seen in the anterior maxillary region [1]. Supernumerary teeth are more common in permanent dentition as compared to primary dentition. The prevalence is 0.15–1% in permanent dentition and 0.3–0.6% in the primary dentition with proportion of 2:1 for male sex [2]. The presence of a supernumerary tooth can cause a lot of complications. It may cause the delayed or impaired eruption of succedaneous teeth (26–52%), displacement or rotation of permanent teeth (28–63%), crowding, abnormal diastema, or premature space closure, dilaceration, cyst formation (4–9%), or eruption into nasal cavity [3]. A lot of theories have been proposed to explain the presence of supernumerary teeth but the exact etiology remains obscure. According to the most accepted theory, it results from localized and independent hyperactivity of dental lamina leading to formation of additional tooth germ. Genetics is considered to play an important role in the development of supernumerary teeth [4].