Impacted Canines

This young man was referred to our practice by his dentist for the alignment of his impacted upper adult canines. It is not immediately obvious, but his upper canines (3rd tooth from the middle) are deciduous teeth (milk teeth) and are not adult canines.

With orthodontic treatment his upper adult canines have been aligned, his teeth are straight, his bite corrected and the spaces between his front teeth closed.

This x-ray shows that his upper adult canines are positioned high in the upper jaw bone and overlap the roots of his upper incisors before orthodontic treatment.

This mid-treatment radio graph shows that his upper adult canine position has been corrected.

This centre photo shows that he had an increased overbite (increased overlap of the front teeth), spacing between his upper front teeth and over-retained upper decidous canines (3rd tooth from the middle).

After orthodontic treatment his bite has been corrected and his adult canines have been aligned.

The side view of his bite shows that his upper front teeth are forward of his lower front teeth by an increased amount, which is called an increased over jet. You can also see that his upper deciduous canine has worn down a significant amount and does not have a very good long term prognosis.

This side view of his bite after orthodontic treatment shows that his over-retained deciduous canine has now been replaced with his adult upper canine (tooth is centre of the photo). His upper adult canine will provide better function and last a life time.