A very delayed developing premolar: clinical report.

This clinical report describes the delayed development of a maxillary second premolar. The premolar developed when the patient was between the ages of 12 and 16 years. The development of the tooth was discovered from a panoramic radiograph taken when the patient was 17 years, 1 month of age. Previous to this discovery, the tooth had been diagnosed as congenitally missing. The transition from the primary dentition to the permanent dentition can be complicated by an aberrant second premolar, either congenitally absent or delayed in development. The prevalence of some missing permanent teeth (hypodontia) is a common developmental anomaly. A less frequent situation is apparent hypodontia due to delayed tooth development, leading to a possible misdiagnosis as congenital absence of the tooth. This clinical report will describe a patient who developed a maxillary second premolar sometime between the ages of 12 and 16 years, after the patient had been diagnosed as having a congenitally missing premolar.