Hide and seek: Impacted maxillary and mandibular canines from the Roman period Croatia

Objective: The aim of this paper was to analyse the dental remains of an adult male with three impacted canines from the Roman period cemetery in Osijek, Croatia.

Materials: The dental remains of an adult male aged 35-45 years at the time of death were analysed.

Methods: Macroscopic analysis of dental remains was accompanied by radiographic examination.

Results: The individual also had additional dental pathologies (carious lesion, antemortem tooth loss). A total of 21 permanent teeth were present in maxillae and mandible. Eighteen of them were normal fully erupted dentition, while three were impacted: left maxillary canine and both mandibular canines. The left maxillary and mandibular canines were mesially inclined, and the right mandibular canine was relatively horizontally positioned.

Conclusion: A case of non-syndrome impaction in which the lack of eruptive force in combination with the unfavorable position of the tooth bud might have resulted in multiple impacted teeth is presented.

Significance: Current clinical knowledge reports low frequency of this anomaly, with maxillary impaction occurring more often than mandibular. Furthermore, canine impaction is even more rarely reported in the archaeological material. The presented case is the only one from the archaeological setting with impaction present both in maxillae and mandible.

Limitations: In modern populations multiple impactions are often associated with various syndromes. Since the majority of syndromes affect soft tissue, their association with impaction cannot be confirmed in archaeological populations.