Prevalence of Supernumerary Teeth in Orthodontic Patients from Southwestern Brazil

the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of supernumerary teeth in a brazilian pediatric population. one examiner evaluated the presence of supernumerary teeth in panoramic radiographs of 1719 subjects (762 male and 957 female), with ages ranging from 4 to 14.5 years (mean 8.4 years old), from the archive of the preventive orthodontic course of the rehabilitation hospital of bauru, s？o paulo. supernumerary teeth were present in thirty subjects (1.7%, 16 males and 14 females). difference between sexes was not statistically significant. twenty-nine supernumerary teeth (96.7%) were located in the maxilla, and only 1 (3.3%) located in mandible. seventeen supernumerary teeth (56.7%) located in maxilla were mesiodens. the early diagnosis of supernumerary teeth is essential to prevent malocclusion and malposition of permanent teeth demonstrating the importance of panoramic radiographs in their detection.