Congenital absence of the permanent canines: a clinico-statistical study.

We report here a clinico-statistical study of congenital absence of the permanent canines (CAPC). Sixty-five cases (22 men and 43 women) of CAPC were found in the files of 35,927 outpatients, an incidence of 0.18%. Thirty-seven cases had single absence of the canine and 28 cases had multiple absences. There were 42 cases in the maxilla, 17 in the mandible, and 6 in both the maxilla and the mandible. In the single absence cases, there was a tendency of occurrence at the left side in the maxilla, and the right side in the mandible. There were 39 CAPC cases without absence of other permanent teeth. Several complicated dental anomalies were seen such as persistence of deciduous teeth, congenital absence of other permanent teeth, microdontia, malposition, and complete or incomplete impaction (excluding the third molars). The complication rate of other permanent tooth absences was higher in the cases with CACP in the maxilla than in the mandible.