Diagnosis and management of supernumerary teeth in pediatric population: a case series and a review

A supernumerary tooth is a development anomaly of number characterized by the presence of tooth in addition to the normal series. The prevalence of this anomaly varies between 0.15% and 1.9%. Clinical and radiological signs are constant. Surgial extraction is an unavoidable therapeutic step that can be associated to interceptive or orthodontic treatement. Methods: We performed a review of literature about diagnosis and management of supernumerary teeth in pediatric population. PubMed, Cochrane library and Google scholar were databases used. We reported 4 clinical cases of young patients with different types and numbers of supernumerary teeth, treated at the principal military hospital of Tunis. We noticed clinical signs, radiological ones and detailed treatment plan. Results: Thirteen articles (13) were reviewed. Boys were more affected than girls with sex ratio 2:1. Mean age at diagnosis was 9.76 YO. Clinical signs associated were respectively delayed dental eruption (N =) 61.53 %, swelling (N=4) 30.76 % , space loss (N=3) 23.07% and over-retained primary teeth (N=3) 23.07%. Besides , impacted tooth (N=5) 38.46% and radio-opaque images ( N=10) 76.92 % were the most radiological findings associated. Mean number of supernumerary teeth diagnosed per patient was 1.69. Mesiodens (N= 5) 38.46%, odontoma (N= 3)23.07% , dens invaginus (N=1)= 7.69% and tooth like appearence (N=1)7.69 % were most subtype described. Regular follow-up of 5.92 months, was mentionned in (N=9) 69.23% of the retained articles. Conclusion: Supernumerary teeth requires a multidisciplinary management Ideally, examination and treatment planning should be undertaken within pediatric dentist , oral surgeon and orthodonstist.