Radiographic localization of impacted maxillary canines: A comparison of methods

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether localization is achievable with a single panoramic radiograph. Materials and Methods: A total of 40 patients were studied, in varying age groups and were assessed clinically for impacted or erupted malpositioned maxillary canines. In 20 patients with erupted malposed canines, a panoramic radiograph was compared with the clinical visual method; and in the remaining 20 patients with impacted maxillary canines, a panoramic radiograph was compared with the buccal object rule, for localizing the canine. Results: In our study, the patients were in the age group of 11-52 years, with a mean age of 23.47 ± 8.63 years (SD). Kappa statistics revealed good agreement for localization by using panoramic radiographs when compared to the visual method (value-0.684), and they revealed moderate agreement for localization when using panoramic radiographs, as compared to the buccal object rule (value-0.630). A coefficient correlation for reliability of a panoramic radiograph gave a predictive value of P < 0.0001, thus proving that using panoramic radiography for localizing the object is highly significant. Conclusion: Our study suggested that panoramic radiography is a moderately reliable tool for localizing maxillary impacted canines.