Impacted teeth - the hidden hindrance
For most orthodontic patients the only concerns about teeth that are blocked from erupting or are impacted are the third molars or the wisdom teeth. Usually wisdom teeth are impacted because of insufficient space and this is contributed to by our conservative approach to the extraction of other teeth. Generally assessment of third molars is delayed until growth of the face is slowing at the age of 16 or 17 years. Impacted third molars that remain in place can be associated with infection and pain, decay of inaccessible surfaces, resorption of the adjacent second molar roots, cysts and other pathology that occasionally develops in the walls of cysts.
The other reasonably commonly impacted tooth is the maxillary canine. 85% of impacted canines are tipped forwards and towards the palate. Palatally impacted canines frequently are first noticed by your dentist 1 to 3 years before the canine is due to erupt. Extraction of the primary canine at this stage leads to correction of the majority but braces and in some cases exposure surgery are required to realign and erupt the wayward canine. Treatment times with braces for impacted teeth are considerably longer than usual for other malocclusions.
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