Exposure of Impacted Teeth

An impacted tooth simply means that it is “stuck” and cannot erupt into function. It is very common for the upper canine tooth to become impacted and fail to erupt due to space restrictions in a patient’s bite.  The canine or cuspid tooth is a critical tooth in the dental arch and plays an important role in your “bite”. When this happens, it is advantageous to manage eruption with early diagnosis, usually from an orthodontist, referring to an oral surgeon for help in bringing that tooth to eruption.  Cuspid teeth are very strong biting teeth and have the longest roots of any human teeth. They are designed to be the first teeth that touch when your jaws close together so they guide the rest of the teeth into the proper bite.  

Open communication between the orthodontist and oral surgeon is essential. This allows treatment planning for the most appropriate, surgical, and orthodontic techniques to be used to assist the impacted tooth (teeth), to erupt successfully.


Exposure and Bracketing of an Impacted Cuspid