A Retrospective Look at the Prevalence of Dens Invaginatus in Client-Owned Dogs Sahipli Köpeklerde Dens İnvajinatus Sıklığının Retrospektif Olarak İncelenmesi

Objectives: The oral cavity is considered a gateway to the body because dental disease may result in many systemic conditions. Dogs and cats are sporadically affected by developmental dental anomalies and dens invaginatus is one such anomaly. Dens invaginatus predisposes the affected tooth to caries and endodontic infection. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine the number of missing teeth and (b) to detect the prevalence of dens invaginatus in dogs and to discuss its clinical importance Methods: In this retrospective study, we investigated the prevalence of dens invaginatus. All of the existing maxillary and mandibular teeth were examined clinically and radiographically in order to determine the number of missing teeth and the presence of dens invaginatus. Results: Of the 188 mandibular first molar teeth examined three (1.6%) of them were identified to have dens invaginatus. Conclusion: Even if the anomalous teeth may not seem to cause any pathology at the time they are first discovered, they need to be followed up periodically for any developing pathology as early intervention will prevent occurrence of severe complications. Full-mouth intraoral radiography has a tremendous role in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with anomalous teeth.