Evidence of ectopic eruption may also present as an incidental finding following radiographic investigation of a different dental complaint.
A subsidiary aim was to determine the level of reporting of ectopic eruption by the dental profession.
The experimental material comprised 28 panoral radiographs each taken from 28 different children with radiographic evidence of ectopic eruption of one or more FPMs.
In addition, the notes were systematically checked to determine whether the radiographic finding of ectopic eruption had been documented by the clinician who had originally requested the radiographic assessment.
Standard criteria were employed to clarify the type of ectopic eruption seen radiographically [Bjerklin and Kurol, 1981; Silva Filho et al.
Chi-squared analysis was undertaken to determine whether there were any significant differences in the presence of additional dental anomalies between the ectopic eruption and control subgroups.
Data were pooled for the 28 children with ectopic eruption as there were no significant differences in the number of affected molars or the specific type of ectopic eruption according to gender (P>0.