Impactions
Impactions can be caused by improper positioning of the developing tooth bud. This can cause the tooth to fail to erupt into the mouth. Impactions can also be caused by early loss of primary teeth or crowding of teeth. Wisdom teeth are the most commonly impacted teeth, but canines and premolars are also commonly impacted.
This problem should be corrected because it can:
- cause damage to the root structure of adjacent teeth
- interfere with the sinus cavity
- leave unwanted spaces
- lead to improper functioning of the teeth
- cause premature wear of the teeth
- cause asymmetric alignment of the teeth
This is what an impacted tooth looks like:
As you can see a impacted tooth can go undetected by the untrained eye and become a big problem. Luckily we can correct it if discovered in time.
How can impacted teeth be orthodontically corrected?
Usually the impacted tooth is exposed and over the course of a few months and brought into the correct position of the mouth. Correction of impacted teeth may involve a minor surgical procedure performed by an oral surgeon working closely with our practice. This will allow us to then guide eruption of the impacted tooth into proper position.