Exposure of Impacted Teeth

Useful Links:

• What is an impacted tooth?
• Early Recognition of Impacted Eyeteeth Is the Key to Successful Treatment
• What happens if the eyetooth will not erupt when proper space is available?
• What to expect from surgery to expose & bracket an impacted tooth

What is an impacted tooth?

An impacted tooth simply means that it is “stuck” and cannot erupt into function. The maxillary cuspid (upper eyetooth) is the second most common tooth to become impacted. The cuspid tooth is a critical tooth and plays an important role in your “bite”. The 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.

Normally, the maxillary cuspid teeth are the last of the “front” teeth to erupt into place. They usually come into place around age 13 and cause any space left between the upper front teeth to close tighter together. If a cuspid tooth gets impacted, every effort is made to get it to erupt into its proper position. The techniques involved to aid eruption can be applied to any impacted tooth in the upper or lower jaw, but most commonly they are applied to the maxillary cuspid (upper eye) teeth. Sixty percent of these impacted eyeteeth are located on the palatal (roof of the mouth) side of the dental arch. The remaining impacted eye teeth are found in the middle of the supporting bone, but are stuck in an elevated position above the roots of the adjacent teeth, or are out to the facial side of the dental arch.

Early Recognition of Impacted Eyeteeth Is the Key to Successful Treatment

The older the patient the more likely an impacted eyetooth will not erupt by natural forces alone, even if the space is available for the tooth to fit in the dental arch. A panoramic x-ray, along with a dental examination, will help determine whether all the adult teeth are present or if some adult teeth are missing.

Impacted tooth success by patient’s age:

• 11-12 years old – with space opened for eruption, good chance for success.
• 13-14 years old – the impacted eyetooth will not erupt by itself, even with the space cleared for its eruption.
• Over 40 years old – much higher chance that the tooth will be fused in position.

What happens if the eyetooth will not erupt when proper space is available?

The goal is to erupt the impacted tooth and not to extract it. Once the tooth has moved into its final position, the gum around it will be evaluated. In some circumstances, there may be some minor “gum surgery” required.

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Exposure and Bracketing of an Impacted Cuspid

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What to expect from surgery to expose & bracket an impacted tooth

The surgery to expose and bracket an impacted tooth is a very straightforward surgical procedure that is performed in our office. For most patients, it is performed with local anesthesia. In selected cases it will be performed under oral sedation if the patient desires to be calmer, but this is generally not necessary for this procedure. If the procedure only requires exposing the tooth with no bracketing, the time required will be shortened by about one half. These issues will be discussed in detail at your preoperative consultation with your doctor.

Refer to Preoperative Instructions under Surgical Instructions on this website for a review of any details. Simply call South Shore Periodontics at South Shore Periodontics Phone Number (902) 543-0050 if you have any questions.