Diagnosis and treatment plan of maxillary impacted canine

Kyung, Seung Hyun; Hwang, Chung Ju

Abstract

Upper canine is important because it protects and maintains the stability of the dental arch and also, joins the anterior with the posterior teeth. The incidence of impaction of upper canine is the second most frequent next to the third molar because it takes a long period of time to develop, and has a complicated path of eruption, and erupts lately. After the age of 10, clinical and radioglaphic examination can be used in revealing the possibility of impaction and efforts should be put to reduce the side effects. To prevent impaction, selective extraction of primary canine at the age of 8 to 9 could be considered and prolonged retention of primary canine in oral cavity should be avoided at this time. Once the impaction is iden, the first stage of the treatment is to localize the lesion by radiographic examination and According to the severity, orthodontic traction or autotransplantation should be considered and comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan of malocclusion should be established. Generally, labial impaction is due to arch length discrepancy and palatal impaction is due to malposition or morphologic pathosis of lateral incisors rather than arch length discrepancy. In surgical procedure, peridontal problems should be considered and the minimum amount of bone and soft tissue shold be reduced and direct bonding method of many attachment methods should be recommended. Especially in traction of labially impacted canine, it should be guided to erupt through the keratinized zone and proper forced magnitude should be applied. The importance of periodontal condition should always be in mind following the patient education to mintain the good oral hygiene at each stage of treatment. Properly managed impacted canine can provide function and esthetic by proper diagnosis and treatment if extraction of canine is not indicated.