Clinical Assessment & Presentations
Intraoral Features
Erupted or unerupted ectopic molars
Ectopic molars can present present as erupted or unerupted teeth. In ectopic molars which are mesioangularly impacted, the distal cusps normally erupt first. It can appear unilateral or bilateral. Unerupted ectopic molars are often an incidental finding on radiographs.
Crowding
Ectopic molars are associated with crowding, especially posterior crowding. Posterior crowding can often go unnoticed and is dependent on multiple factors including the size of the posterior alveolus. Signs of posterior crowding are impacted teeth or “molar stacking”.
Associations with other ectopic teeth
Patients with ectopic molars have significantly higher prevalence of other ectopic teeth such as canines (Mooney et al. 2007). This suggests a common genetic aetiology. In the above figure, the bilateral impacted lower second molars are accompanied with a palatally ectopic upper right canine.
