Dens invaginatus an esthetic and functional anomaly: findings on tomography of an ecuadorian population

Abstract

Among the structural development anomalies of a dental organ, dens invaginatus (dens in dente) is characterized by having an enamel invagination of varying depth, which could be associated with pulp, aesthetic and/or functional problems. Objective: Determine the prevalence of dens in dente in maxillary incisors according to sex, bilaterality and classification. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional observational study in 355 digital tomography scans from the period 2018-2021. Where 1420 maxillary incisors were analyzed in different cuts (axial, sagittal and coronal) to identify and classify the dens invaginatus. Statistical tests were carried out for the comparison of proportions with the help of the Z test and the association of variables with the Chi Square test (p < 0.05). Results: The prevalence of dens in dente was observed in 180 maxillary incisors (13%) present in 110 tomographies. 94% of cases corresponded to the maxillary lateral incisor, according to sex, no association was found with the presence of the dens invaginatus and the bilateral condition was expressed in 60.9%. Oehlers type I occurred in 97% of all cases and 3% for type II. Conclusions: Most cases of dens invaginatus were found in maxillary lateral incisors.