Exposure of Impacted Teeth

An impacted tooth is one that fails to erupt or erupts only partially. After wisdom teeth, canines are the most commonly impacted teeth. The impaction is either on the palatal or labial (outer lip_ aspect of the jaw, with palatal impactions being twice as common as labial impactions. 

If left untreated, canine impactions can lead to root resorption on the neighboring teeth, and/or dentigerous cyst formation. In many instances, impacted teeth are totally asymptomatic apart from their potentially negative effects on orthodontic positioning and/or treatment.

Treatment Options:

Treatment of patients with impacted canines can include:

• no intervention with periodic follow-up to detect any pathologic changes
• surgical exposure followed by orthodontics to bring the previously impacted tooth into the plane of occlusion
• extraction of the tooth
  • followed by orthodontics
  • followed by prosthetic replacement
  • with no subsequent treatment

Pre-Surgical Examination:

Diagnostic steps before deciding on the exact surgical procedure:

• CBCT can provide valuable information regarding the location of the impacted tooth and it's proximity to the adjacent teeth, and the condition of those teeth. 
• Assessment of the gum around the impacted tooth.